


More Than Rivals

by NicoWrites



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Angst and Humor, Angst with a Happy Ending, Drama & Romance, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, I said at the start that there wouldn't be angst but I lied, M/M, Mutual Pining, Romantic Comedy, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-24
Updated: 2017-09-15
Packaged: 2018-11-18 07:02:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 29,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11286129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NicoWrites/pseuds/NicoWrites
Summary: “I'm afraid the Fruschonites, that is, the inhabitants of last planet we joined forces with, are relatively famous for their gossiping. You two may have to keep up this lovers act of yours, for political reasons. It seems to have earned Voltron some popularity, at the very least.”It took a moment to sink in. “Wait, the whole universe thinks we're dating. The whole universe thinks we're-!”Keith cut me off. “And who's fault is that?!”Or: the fake dating fic nobody asked for.





	1. He's Off Limits!!!

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back with another fic!!! To be honest I wrote the start of this literally seven times before I ended up giving up on the previous concept and improvising, and this came up. 
> 
> It's going to be very...light? No angst or anything, just a bit of pining and obliviousness and in general a good time?

It all started with a cute alien girl, as many of my misadventures do. But this time, I was winding up with my best pick-up line, and she straight up walked past me and started flirting with Keith.

Keith! Of all people. I glared over at them. Keith didn't even seem to be appreciating it, either. He flinched back when her ornately scaled hand reached to touch his cheek. I don't moisturize daily to watch girls touch _Keith's_ skin. It was probably all oily and gross, too! Way to misrepresent the human race. Geez.

I found myself stomping over, acting completely on impulse when I slid over and raised my eyebrows at Keith, leaning onto him. I didn't know what to say, and I panicked. That's my excuse, at least. “Don't talk to him like that!” I whined, and the alien girl looked between the two of us, then gasped and took a step back.

“Oh, are you two…? I didn't realize. I apologize, I would never mean to come between you...” She babbled, stepping back and raising her hands defensively. I...what?

 _Oh._ Maybe she'd sensed the jealousy burning in my gut, but she hadn't realized exactly _who_ it had been aimed at. Keith shoved me off his shoulder when she retreated, and my face went red.

“What the fuck was that?” He demanded, and I found myself floundering.

“I...uh. This is a serious mission! Diplomacy and stuff, no time for hanky panky.” It was an awful, hypocritical excuse, and we both knew it. But he didn't seem to question it, only rolling his eyes.

“So you pretended to be my boyfriend?! Besides, I wasn't even flirting with her, _she_ came to _me-_ ”

“Still!”

“Still what? Besides, you're one to talk-!”

“What's so bad about being my boyfriend?” I asked, turning away from him and crossing my arms. He opened his mouth to reply, but didn't say anything. Then closed it, face turning slightly pink (with anger, I presume).

“You know what? Forget it. Whatever.” And so we forgot it. But the entire planet was thereon convinced that I was dating Keith, and I couldn't hit on any of the girls there. Which was tough, because they were super pretty. Kind of reptilian, but their scales were all pastel colors, and soft to the touch.

Then it happened again, and kept happening. Apparently, aliens really dig the brooding emo aesthetic Keith's got. And I managed to cockblock every time, growing steadily more frustrated. But no matter how hard I tried, every time I attempted to divert their attention to me, I managed to convince the alien races that we're _both_ off limits.

I mean, if I can't have a hot alien girlfriend, nobody can, right? Keith was starting to get annoyed with me, too.

“Look, I don't care about these aliens! But I _do_ care about the entire universe thinking we're _dating._ ” He confronted me, eventually. I scratched the back of my neck, awkward.

“Sorry!” I mumbled, not very sincerely. “I just hate to see them flirting with you! It gets on my nerves, man.” His eyebrows furrowed.

“You're...jealous?”

“Yes! Dude! You're like a girl magnet and you're not even _trying._ It's like, just because your resting bitch face happened to be _hot_ means _I_ don't get a chance with any of the aliens we meet!” His eyes widened for a moment, and I realized what I'd just said.

“Paladins, enough fooling around!” Allura's sharp reprimand cut through our argument. She'd been trying to convince the local planets to ally with Voltron, and so far things had been going well. “The leader here would like to meet you two.” We tossed each other quick glares before walking over to where Allura was talking politics with a tall, cephalopodan creature.

She ushered us forward. “These are the Red and Blue Paladins.” She introduced us, and the creature in front of her’s tentacles curled inwards slightly with excitement.

“I've heard many tales of these two. A lovely couple, truly. The power of Voltron in the hands of two lovers, truly a beautifully poetic-” His garbled speech was cut off by Allura.

“I beg your forgiveness, but you must be misunderstanding-” I could tell the octopoid in front of me was confused (somehow. body language is really weird)

“Nope, no. Yeah. It's. We're. Uh, together. It's really romantic, saving the universe and all. Ah. Yep.” Allura gaped at me, and I bit my lip before hardening my resolve and pecking Keith on the cheek.

The alien practically trilled. “Quite adorable! I would be happy to join my forces in alliance with such devoted youths.” The princess was confused to say the least, but she quickly pulled herself together, not giving up the opportunity.

“Ah, yes. Thank you very much, Your Highness. We look forward to fighting alongside you.” She bowed, and I followed her lead. Keith, looking dazed, did the same.

The moment we were back on the ship, Allura turned on us. “Explain.” She said simply, and I felt all the blood in my body rise to my ears.

“Well, uh. There was one time when I was trying to hit on this alien chick but I think I accidentally convinced her that I was dating Keith? Cultural barriers, right? Aha. But, I guess word got around?” I made eye contact with Keith, and his eyes narrowed.

“He told everyone on the past seven planets we visited that we were together.” He said, bluntly.

“By accident!” My voice cracked, and Allura pinched the bridge of her nose, composing herself.

“I'm afraid the Fruschonites, that is, the inhabitants of last planet we joined with, are relatively famous for their gossiping. You two may have to keep up this lovers act of yours, for political reasons. It seems to have earned Voltron some popularity, at the very least.”

It took a moment to sink in. “Wait, the whole universe thinks we're dating. _The whole universe thinks we're_ -!”

Keith cut me off. “And who's fault is that?!”

“You two will need to be more civil if you're to keep up this facade.” She gently reminded us, and I ran a hand through my hair with frustration, regretting all of my decisions up until this point.

 

* * *

 

“I fucked up.” I said, for probably the fiftieth time, face pressed into Hunk's pillow and splayed pathetically across his bed.

“It won't be that bad, will it?” He asked. “I thought you and Keith were getting along better recently?”

“No! We're rivals! And I don't want to be snogging him when I could be flirting with aliens! This is the worst!”

Pidge piped up from the floor beside me. “I dunno, from the way you watch that boy's mouth I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be _quite_ an improvement.”

“I do not stare at his mouth! That's gay!”

“Lance, so are you.”

“I'll have you know I am a _bisexual,_ Pidge. Don't sass me.” I squawked, indignantly. “This is gonna suck.”

Hunk sighed. “Dude, you can be nemeses all you want for now. We aren't visiting another planet for a few more days. I'm sure you can get away with hand holding in public and fighting in private.”

“Or you could skip the hand-holding bit and tell them that when you fight it's actually kinky human sex.” Pidge offered.

I scoffed. “What if they invite us to weird alien mating rituals?”

“Then you can politely decline?” Hunk suggested. I rolled onto my back and kicked the air a couple times, rhythmically.

“Fucking Keith.”

“If I remember correctly, you're the one that launched yourself in front of him on several occasions and told aliens to 'back off, he's off limits.’ You brought it upon yourself.”

“That makes it even worse.” I complained.Hunk patted my back comfortingly.

“It's rough, man.”

 

* * *

 

I found myself staring at his hands for the entirety of the next few days. Would they feel good in mine? Like, they looked kind of rugged, calloused with bruised knuckles. His hand wasn't as long as mine. Proportionately, at least.

It's hard to take this rivalry seriously when all I can think about are his hands. I'm almost jealous of them. I kind of want to kiss his fingertips, all chivalrous. As in, I want to be seen as the kind of boyfriend who'd do that. I'm sure the aliens in our alliance will love it. Right. Purely for political purposes.

“Lance! You have to focus. I could've killed you like three times already, you're so zoned out.” Keith scowled at me, deactivating his bayard for a moment and crossing his arms.

“What? Oh, sorry. I was just... like, on our next mission. Are we going to like, hold hands? And stuff? Like, wow. I just... that's going to be weird. Like, we have to do that, right? It's-”

“Lance, calm down. And yes, we'll probably have to. It's not a big deal, I won't scandalize you.” He rolled his eyes at me, reaching out with his free hand and grabbing mine. “See? We've done it before, _not that you remembered._ ” He waved our linked hands in the air between us. “Can we get back to training now?”

I snatched my hand back, face red. It was just as I expected, except his hand was warmer than it looked. Warmer, and more gentle. “Wait wait wait. Like. We're going to…?” I picked his hand back up, gingerly, looking back up at him.

“Yes.”

“Oh, I am going to hold your hand _so hard_ it will never feel unheld ever again.” I found myself saying, challenge in my voice.

“Not if I hold your hand _harder._ ” And that's how we ended up on the floor, arm wrestling, when Shiro came in.

“Uh...what are you two doing?”

“Practicing hand holding.” I explained, not breaking my concentration. Keith had pushed my arm slightly off center, and I was fighting to keep control at this point.  

“Looks...romantic.” He commented, hastily retreating back out of the room as my endurance cracked and he slammed my arm backwards onto the ground. I winced, elbow cracking at the sudden release of tension.

“I win.” He grinned wickedly. “I'm obviously the better boyfriend. Er, rival, I mean. Nemesis? Whatever we are when we're not around the general public. I'm better. Either way.” He declared. I rubbed my sore arm, groaning.

“That's not fair! I demand a rematch!” Keith raised his eyebrows at me, forehead wrinkling.

“What? Another one? Lance, I've beaten you six times already, my arm is tired.”

“Aha! Your arm is tired. Who's the _real_ winner here?” I proclaimed, as if my own arm didn't hurt like hell.

“You're an idiot.”

“I'm an idiot that you're supposedly in love with. Your _space idiot boyfriend._ ” I mocked, and he actually laughed. A heavenly sound, may I say. Keith is often too emo to laugh at my jokes, so I took it as a high compliment.

“I hate you.” He said, but it sounded good natured. As good natured as hatred can be.

“Love you too, babe.”

“Don't call me that.”

“But we're in love!”

“Yeah, right.” He rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. Okay, maybe this won't be so bad. Rivals can also be fake boyfriends. And I am going to be the best goddamn significant other around. The whole universe is going to be jealous of Keith Kogane.

 _I will be the superior romantic_ , I assured myself. _This is one competition that I will not lose!_


	2. Pining Sucks Ass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pining sucks ass.
> 
> That's what I thought, even before he reached out and grabbed my hand, pressing his lips to my knuckles and saying, “Before I forget, good morning, darling.”
> 
> I could feel my heartbeat thumping in my temples as my ears turned crimson. Pining really fucking sucks ass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finished writing this ten minutes ago and finished editing one minute ago. And now I'm posting it. 
> 
> The logical part of me is saying I should write ahead a bit but the rest of me is saying "shut the fuck up, logical side" so guess who I listened to.

By the time we actually had to start acting like we were together, I was thoroughly annoyed with Lance “Keith's Boyfriend” McClain. He'd been so painfully awkward about the whole thing, as if he wasn't the reason we were in this situation in the first place.

We were about to step off of the ship when I reached for his hand, and he practically leaped away from me. “We're supposed to be dating. Suck it up.” I muttered, and he nodded, still looking shaken.

Honestly, I'd be the last person to say I wasn't a bit excited for this whole thing. It amazes me that so many people actually think Lance is capable of loving me. Whatever, though. I resolved to not take advantage of the situation…too much, at least.

As corny as it sounds, this misunderstanding is my lucky break. At least now I have a decent excuse for being hopelessly in love. Allura glanced back at us and gave a tight-lipped smile, turning back to the aliens in front of us.

There were numerous glances in our direction, and I squeezed Lance's hand just the slightest bit. He looked tense, and wasn't doing a great job of looking like he didn't hate me. He was staring pointedly away from me.

I was hoping I wouldn't need to do this,  _ but… _

I took his jaw in my hand, pulling him so he was facing me. “You aren't playing the part.” I hissed, craning my neck to draw our faces closer together. I glanced at the crowd out of the corner of my eye.

“Are you going to kiss me?” He squeaked out, breathlessly. I noticed how his eyes widened with uncertainty pooling in them.

“No, just smile and let me press my nose against yours. It'll look romantic enough.” He gulped, nodding and pulling off a dazzling smile, closing his eyes briefly as we touched noses, then pulling away.

The sincerity in the smile that I knew was faked shocked me for a moment, but I felt the corner of my mouth twitch upwards and looked down at my feet, knowing my face was as red as my armour. I knew the entire crowd had their eyes on us, and our teammates were also looking at us with raised eyebrows and suggestive grins.

I was glad when they accepted our offer quickly, and I didn't have to stand there with Lance on my arm any longer. The moment the doors closed behind us, I dropped his hand like it was on fire.

“Lance, your acting is terrible!” I growled. The boy couldn't even  _ pretend  _ to tolerate me. God. 

“I am an amazing actor, thank you very much!” I crossed my arms over my chest, sighing.

“You two were putting up quite the performance from what I could see!” Pidge shouted from across the room. “Keep down the PDA, bros!”

I rolled my eyes. “We’re supposed to be the most adorable couple the universe has to offer. You better act like it next time.” 

 

* * *

 

That night saw me curled up in the corner of Shiro's room, rocking back and forth. “I can't even believe…” I muttered, staring into space. He laughed at me, ruffling my hair.

“Quite the situation you've gotten yourself into, huh?”

“His hands are so sweaty, and I'm not even disgusted. Like, I don't even care. And his fingers are weird, too. But I  _ held his hand. Again! _ I can't believe…” I ranted. “He looked me right in the eyes and asked me, like, in this quiet voice, like, 'Are you gonna kiss me?’ Who does that!? Is he trying to kill me? I think he's trying to kill me.” My voice was cracking and I didn't have the power or motivation to stop it.

“You've got it bad.” Was his only response. I buried my face in my hands, groaning.

“He's so pretty. What the fuck.” On any other day, I'm sure I would've been reprimanded for my language, but damn, I don't even care, and he didn't say anything. “How am I going to survive?”

“Maybe it's about time you told him?” He suggested, and I found myself literally gasping.

“Shiro! After all these years, you think that I  _ tell people  _ when I  _ like  _ them? I thought you knew me better than that!” He put a hand on my shoulder comfortingly.

“It was just a suggestion. Anyways, it's getting late. Pining time is up, go get some sleep.”

“I'm gay.” I muttered, as he pushed me out of his door. “I don't sleep.”

“Homosexuality and insomnia aren't interchangeable.”

“Then how come I'm up all night thinking gay thoughts?” He just laughed at me, and I was left to wander back to my own room.

I was pining hard enough  _ before  _ this whole scenario came up. I don't know how I'm going to survive this now. Especially because our current mission is to find more allies. Zarkon’s forces have still been coming at us, sure, but it seems like they've been saving up for something recently.

Which gives us time to train and spread diplomacy or whatever, build our own forces up. In any case, we're traveling to planet after planet, even the ones that seem insignificant. Which means the whole dating facade is going to come up a lot.

I have awful luck. The fact that I'm on this ship is the first sign of that. The second example is that I happened to run into Lance on my way back to my room.

He looked tired, face mask cracking and eyelids drooping. He blinked over at me when he saw me. “Oh! Keith. Uh.” I froze.

“Sorry about...being weird today.” He mumbled, avoiding eye contact.

“Sure.” My social ineptitude never ceases to amaze me.  _ Sure? He just apologized, what the fuck kind of response...? _

“Look, um, not to be weird but...would you mind...practicing? The whole fake relationship thing. Like, outside of the actual pretending. Just so we're used to it! And we're not, like, awkward. Please? I understand if you don't-” He stammered, and I felt heat rise to my face.

“Yeah, sure. Fine. We can...do that. Yeah.”

“Right! Great. Perfect.” He shot me finger guns, laughing nervously and stepping into his own room.

“Uh, wait!” I don't know what possessed me to keep talking. “We could do it...now. I mean, while we have like, privacy and stuff. Pretty much everyone else is asleep.”

That's how we ended up both sitting cross-legged on his floor, staring at each other uncertainly. “Okay.” I exhaled deeply, fingers twitching.

“Alright.” We both reached out at the same time, then flinched back for a second. He made eye contact with me and I bit my lip, closing my eyes for a moment as I grabbed his hand in mine, a little more roughly than I'd planned on.

I opened my eyes, looking up at him, then down at our twined fingers. I know that my palms are sweating with nerves, and it's almost a relief when I can feel his are damp too. As weird as that is.

I tentatively loosened my grip, and he squeezed my hand in his for a moment, letting a stuttering breath escape him.

“This is really awkward.” Lance admitted, and I nodded.

“Yeah.” His hand was softer than mine, I could tell. It felt almost delicate, and his nails were manicured because  _ of course they are, it's fucking Lance. _

We sat there for another uncomfortable moment. “Okay, good training. Let's. Stop now.” Lance mentioned, dropping my hand. My heart dropped with it, from where it had been situated in my throat.

“Yeah. Okay. 'night, Lance.”

“Goodnight.” I hauled ass out of his room, escaping into my own bedroom down and leaning against the door, sinking to the floor and pressing my hands to my burning face.

“I can't believe this is happening.” I stumbled over to my bed, falling onto it and throwing myself violently into sleep. 

 

* * *

 

I woke up feeling tired, and opening my eyes felt like it was enough exertion to last me the whole day. I hauled myself out of bed, feeling disoriented with exhaustion. I hadn't even stayed up too late, but the events of the day before had left my head spinning, and it hadn't stopped yet.

I almost felt nauseous, and looking in the mirror I could tell I looked like shit. I splashed cold water onto my face, leaving myself still looking like shit, just slightly more damp this time. Great.

Feeling almost sick, I stepped out of my room and braved the kitchen. Hunk had been fiddling with the food goo, trying to make it culinarily acceptable. So far, he hadn't been very successful.

“Hey, Keith.” He greeted, and I responded with a simple hello before walking over and peering over his shoulder to see what he was doing.

It looked scientific, so I decided I'd best leave him alone. “If you're looking for Lance, he's still asleep.” He supplied.

I took a step back, feeling my face go pink. “I wasn't looking for him.” I argued, and he seemed to accept that fairly easily.

“Oh, sorry. I just thought you might want to talk to him, what with everything that's going on.”

“Right, yeah.” He left it at that, for which I would be eternally grateful. Hunk was never one to pry.

“Which would you prefer, cheerio goo or frosted flakes goo?” He asked, casually.

“I’ve never been picky about my cereal.” I offered, uncertain. He frowned at the goo, injecting a glob of it with some mysterious liquid in a syringe, and then tasted a piece.

“Darn. Didn't work, again. I guess we're having normal goo for breakfast again.” That's when Pidge entered the scene, sporting ridiculous bedhead and an angry expression.

Their look softened a bit when they saw us. “Ayyy, an opportunity to tease Keith mercilessly on his  _ huge, embarrassing crush _ .” They commented, and my face went red.

“I don't have a crush, I don't know what you're talking about.” I said, unconvincingly. Hunk sighed and smiled at me gently.

“Sorry to agree with Pidge, but dude, you totally do.” I rolled my eyes, not making eye contact with either of them.

“So, you planning to rise to the occasion?” Pidge waggled their eyebrows at me. I groaned.

“No! That wouldn't be fair to him.” I crossed my arms across my chest.

“It’s his own fault, and I doubt he'll mind, to be honest.” They argued.

“Pidge, don't push it.” Hunk came to the rescue, bless his soul. Our conversation was interrupted when Lance burst in, a smile so radiant on his face that I almost wanted to swoon.

He manages to be a morning person, though I'm not sure how. I ran a hand self-consciously through my hair, which I knew was sticking out in every direction.

“Sup, my dudes.” He shot finger guns at us, and I found myself blushing at that alone.

Mumbled greetings were exchanged. “What are we talking about? Did you manage to flavor the goo?” He asked, taking a fingerful of it and tasting it thoughtfully.

“No, sorry. I thought I had it this time, but apparently not.” Hunk answered, looking distraught.

“No problem, mi comrade.” He put an elbow on Hunk's shoulder, looking over at us. The way he rolled his r there was...attractive. Fuck. Pining sucks ass.

That's what I thought  _ before  _ he reached out and grabbed my hand, pressing his lips to my knuckles and saying, “Before I forget, good morning, darling.”

I could feel my heartbeat thumping in my temples as my ears turned crimson.  _ Pining really fucking sucks ass. _ “Uh.”

“Woah there!” Pidge fumbled with their camera. “That reaction was priceless!” They cackled, and Lance and I both straightened (in more ways than one) and took a step away from each other.

“Sorry man, just. Gotta practice.” He winked at me, and I melted. I'd never been particularly fond of the idea of being madly in love, but honestly, it was turning out to be worse than anticipated.

I never thought boy problems would be my biggest concern while I fought evil aliens in space, but life always seems to find a way to throw in some curveballs.

It's too bad you can't stab feelings, or I'd have done so long ago. Alas, swordplay doesn't help fight against emotional attachments, no matter how hard you try.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes !!! Lance being amazingly flirtatious but totally flabbergasted when someone else initiates is totally how it is and y'all can't convince me otherwise. I should have a ton of time to write tomorrow so maybe y'all'll get another chapter or two ?? Stay hyped, my mates.


	3. Seriously Though, Don't Flirt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Come on, Keith, it'll be a date!” I looped an arm around his shoulder, smirking as he stiffened and turned pink.
> 
> “If you try to flirt with anybody at this party, I will be seriously done with you.”
> 
> “Um, rude. Why would I want to flirt when I already have such a cute boyfriend?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me, when I have a ton of time to write: doesn't  
> Me, when I don't have any time to write: does
> 
> Oh well, I updated within two days. That should be good enough ?? In any case, if you didn't expect a scene like this you've probably never ever read a fanfic but seriously tho I don't care like I damn well am going to use a trope if I want to.

It's never a challenge to be unnecessarily romantic with Keith, to my surprise. The only problem is when  _ he does it back.  _ The guy probably hadn't interacted with another human being for nearly a year before we first form Voltron, so  _ where  _ did he learn to woo people  _ so well _ ? It boggled me.

It became almost a contest. We'd see each other and meet eyes, knowing that one of us was about to be the flirter and the other the flirtee. And we were both equally bad at being on the receiving end.

I almost jumped out of my skin when Keith snuck up behind me, swinging an unexpected arm around one shoulder and resting his chin on the other.

“Keith!” I squeaked, pulling away with shock. He actually cackled, and my face went bright red.

“Sorry, I just...we have to practice, right?” He smirked, raising his eyebrows at me.

“Yeah! Right, of course. It’s for practice.” I shoved my hands in my pockets, trying and failing to act casual. Trying and failing not to think about Keith's breath on the back of my neck, too.

Uncomfortable silence ensued. “Right. Anyways, see you later, babe.” I decided to make a bold move to get back at him, pecking the corner of his lips with my own. Though, it was kind of ruined when I half-tripped and ended up, more accurately, shoving my nose into his cheek hard and painfully. I stepped away, flushing. “That was a kiss. Okay, yeah, bye.”

When I glanced back, I caught red ears peeking out from beneath his hair, so I assumed my fine art of seduction had worked.

I retreated to Pidge's room, because I knew they'd be in there tinkering with something. Sure enough, there they were.

“Pidgeotto, I'm in need of assistance.” They didn't even look away from their screen.

“This is about Keith, isn't it?”

“...yes. I need to know how to seduce him.”

“Why?”

“Uh...out of spite.” I explained, as if it were obvious.

“Okay, but why are you asking me?” They kept typing away at their laptop, and I sighed. 

“I just have faith that you can solve any problem, Pidge.” The evil grin on their face made me regret my decision, though.  

“Well, okay. I've got your back, man.” They winked at me, standing and cracking their knuckles before running out of the room.

“Um, Pidge?” I called after them, but they were gone. 

 

* * *

 

I've always considered myself to be the life of any party. So why am I so appalled at the idea of a huge celebration among all the planets in the Voltron Alliance?

Partially, it's the looks Pidge keeps giving me. The  _ you asked for this  _ looks. I mean, sure, they gave me an opportunity to spend an entire day being incessantly romantic with Keith, but that isn't the point.

Though, social gatherings aren't his forte, which means hopefully his ineptitude will give me a chance to pull ahead in the competition. These aliens are going to totally dig the facade I showcase.

I imagine people will be making merch for the two of us after this. It was also worth it for the look of dread on Keith's face when Allura announced that she and Pidge had sent out a letter of acceptance to the Fruschonites’ invitation.

“Come on, Keith, it'll be a date!” I looped an arm around his shoulder, smirking as he stiffened and turned pink.

“If you try to flirt with anybody at this party, I will be seriously done with you.”

“Um, rude. Why would I want to flirt when I already have such a cute boyfriend?”

“I'm not cute!” His voice broke while he exclaimed this, and I had to step away from him because I was laughing so hard my gut hurt.

He ended up turning away from me, arms crossed, and it only made things worse. “That was,” I grinned so widely I could hardly speak around it. “ _ Adorable. _ ”

He huffed angrily. “So, Princess, when is this going to be, exactly?”

“We'll probably wormhole over there tomorrow. The party itself only starts the day after that.” Pidge gave me an obvious wink, them and Hunk dismissing themselves quickly and leaving. I took the hint and followed behind them.

“Alright, we need a plan.” Pidge began, as we filed into their room. I settled myself on their bed, nodding.

“I need to be perceived as the most chivalrous boyfriend around.” Pidge and Hunk exchanged a look, but agreed.

“Rule number one, seriously, don't flirt with anyone.” Hunk started.

“Hey! I meant what I said!” I exclaimed, indignant. I turned slightly pink when they both looked at me with raised eyebrows. “As in, like, I won't. That's all I meant.” I confirmed, crossing my arms.

“Right, sure. In any case, this is your biggest chance to be sickeningly romantic. Don't hold back with the PDA this time.” I found myself flustered at that statement. Like, I'd been going for an opportunity to pull ahead in our Best Boyfriend competition, but when it came to planning it out I realized exactly what that would involve.

I generally didn't really  _ think  _ about what we were doing. In any case, I totally zoned out, thinking about Keith, and when I brought myself back to reality, Pidge was still talking.

“So like, there will probably be dancing of some kind, probably something weird and alien, I haven't gotten a chance to look into it, but I'll ask Allura. That'll be your prime opportunity to make a move.” They were explaining.

“Right, of course. I'm a kick-ass dancer.”

“I think we're underestimating the effect Keith has on Lance's abilities to perform, though.” Hunk interjected. “Like, he's probably going to be too flustered to make a real move.”

“I'm wounded!” He had a point, though. Pidge tapped their fingers, looking thoughtful.

“I suppose we're just going to have to give Lance a head start.” They raised their eyebrows at Hunk, giving him a meaningful look. He looked confused for a moment, then grinned.

“Oh, right. Of course.” I looked between the two of them, confused. But Pidge ushered me out of their room.

“Go, leave. We'll make sure it all goes smoothly. You need beauty sleep if you're going to woo Keith tomorrow. Or something.” They physically pushed me out the door, but I wasn't struggling.

“Um. Okay.” But as I left for bed, I couldn't get a certain red paladin out of my head.

 

* * *

 

Time passed quickly, leading up to the big event. Allura recommended that we wear our paladin armour, both for the sake of being ready to fight if necessary, and simply being distinguishable.

I don't know what Pidge and Hunk did to Keith, but the three of them showed up late, Keith red in the face and hissing something at them as they walked in. I took that as my cue to enter the scene, resting an elbow on Keith's shoulders and waggling my eyebrows when he actually looked over.

He almost moved to push me away, before seemingly remembering where we were. “Uh, hey.” He said, stiffly. I didn't realize he could turn that particular shade of crimson until he  _ did _ . Cute.

I deemed his reaction a success on my part. “Come on, Keef, you're supposed to be acting like you're in love with me!” I whined, pressing my head on his shoulder and wrapping my arms around him, pulling him closer. I felt smug when I saw people looking at us, whispering to each other excitedly.

He awkwardly put a hand around my back in a half-hearted hug. “Right. Yeah. Acting.” His face fell for a moment, flickering back to how it was before so fast that I barely caught it. He ended up retaliating by kissing the top of my head, and it was the killing blow, so to say. My face went red, and I stepped away, letting my hand swing loosely in his, but otherwise detaching myself from him.

“So, uh…” I looked around, before dragging him through the crowd. “We should probably go and like, socialize or something. This is a party, after all.” People were still keeping their distance from us, as if they weren't sure whether they were allowed to talk to us.

He nodded, looking uncertain. “I guess.”

“She looks cute. We should start with her.” I whispered, and he frowned as I pointed out a vaguely humanoid alien girl.

“You can't flirt with her.” He said, sounding shockingly defensive. Oh, right. I really could use a distraction from the warm weight in my hand, though.

We ended up chatting idly with some government official, one who didn't bring up our alleged relationship. Or rather, I talked, Keith stood next to me and nodding absently, eyes glazed over as if he were thinking about something else.

When our conversation came to a close, I dismissed us, and Keith looked almost sick. “Hey, you okay?” I asked, and he startled back into reality.

“Oh. Yeah. Yeah, I guess.” I didn't really believe him. The reptilian girl from before, (the reason we're in this whole situation!) Looked as though she wanted to approach us, and it only took one glance at Keith's expression for me to intercept.

“Um, sorry. I'd love to talk to you but, uh, we were wondering if you knew anywhere we could go that would be more...private?” I winked at her, though my face was burning with embarrassment at what I was suggesting. 

She looked between us, before giggling and pointing out a tall door near the corner of the room. I thanked her profusely. “Um, what's your name, by the way?” I asked, sheerly out of politeness. Keith looked appalled that I'd kept this conversation going, but I wasn't about to pass up the opportunity.

“Maersch.” She responded, blinking. She rolled the consonants in a strange, inhuman way, but I nodded, shooting her finger guns.

“I'll just call you Merch, 'cause I've got a human mouth.” I winked, prompting a pleasant laugh, before continuing. “Well, we'll be off, taking advantage of your intel.” She nodded, waving us off, and I gripped Keith's hand tighter as I led him away, opening the door and tugging him in behind me.

It appeared to be a broom closet, though thanks to the Fruschonites’ large size, it wasn't too crowded for us humans. Still, when I swung the door shut behind us, knowing all eyes outside were staring at the closet door, it felt tight, and intimate.

“Seriously, what's up? You don't look so good.” I asked, voice dropping to a whisper even though nobody could hear us.

“It's nothing. Just...not good at socializing.” From the dim light, I could make out his tense posture, his worry.

“Don't worry, nobody's going to bother us in here.” He made eye contact with me for a split second, and I could see obvious pain in his eyes before he looked away.

“Yeah, thanks.” His lips twitched upwards in a small smile. It felt like my entire chest inflated with the purity of it, and I pulled him into a hug, even though nobody was watching.

“Come on, I'll be your buff, jealous boyfriend. Nobody will dare try to talk to you.” He stiffened for a moment in my arms, before relaxing slightly.

“Alright. Though I wouldn't be feeling very threatened if I were them.”

“Rude.” That's when soft music started playing outside. It was very obviously alien, but it felt emotional, played on some kind of strange woodwind.

We both met eyes, and I grinned lopsidedly. “Come on, man. Let's dance.” And as I burst the door open, dragging him laughing behind me, I heard a soft whisper of “no homo” in my ear.

I swung him out in front of me, and the aliens around all seemed to be doing a complicated slowdance. At first, we tried to improvise it and follow along, but it wasn't working out and we were tripping over each other.

“Okay, okay.” Keith was genuinely smiling, looking exasperated. “Let's just…” He wrapped his arms around my waist and I took the hint and put my own around his neck, and we settled with simple swaying steps, like eager kids at junior prom.

The song seemed to play forever. Maybe alien music is generally longer than ours, maybe it was just the density of the moment. 

When I broke eye contact with Keith, I saw Pidge jumping up and down at the other end of the room. I'd almost forgot about the whole contest thing. I wanted to get Keith flustered. Right. I was supposed to make my move now.

I felt like I'd already made my move with the whole broom closet scene, but whatever. Maybe it's time for A Move number two. When they seemed sure that I’d noticed them jumping, they frantically mouthed two words at me.

_ Kiss him! _

I looked back at Keith's face, particularly, his lips. I didn't let my gaze linger, though, and my ears went red.  _ Oh.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Left y'all with a mini cliffhanger ;) 
> 
> Anyways I also introduced alien girl bc yes ,, I totally wasn't expecting her to actually show up again but she did ?? I was typing and then I was like "wait since when did she show up" and now I need to fight my way out of the Comfort Zone™ and write an OC in a fic yikes
> 
> In any case expect another update soon, thanks for reading, and please comment and leave kudos I need validation in order to function uwu


	4. The Ultimate Wingmen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I can't believe that actually happened.”
> 
> “Us either, my man. We didn't expect you to do so well.” Pidge clapped me on the back, grinning. “You totally set that scene up perfectly, it was the most Extra™ thing I've ever seen.” They pulled out their polaroid.
> 
> “You didn't-” but they cut me off.
> 
> “Oh, I did.”

The Red Lion is temperamental and the most volatile of the Voltron lions; as it only chooses a pilot that relies more on instinct than skill alone.

Apparently fucking so, because the moment I saw Lance's gaze drift down to my mouth, I sure as hell did not act on any kind of skill. Damn.

In any case, my pining ass got a lucky break, because the situation we were in meant I could pass it off as pretend when I tilted my head to the side and kissed the boy like my life depended on it. (Maybe it does. Depend on this kiss, that is.)

I don't know what the hell he thinks he's doing (I'm one to talk, tch) but we end up bumping noses more than once. Is that supposed to happen?

It feels like it's over before it even begins, because he's drawing away and staring at me, face red, an instant after our lips make contact.

We both scramble to detach ourselves, and the song that was playing died down, segueing the intense moment into an uncomfortable silence. We must’ve put on quite a spectacle, though, because there were some whoops and 'awe’s from the aliens around us. I realized we were probably being watched pretty intently that entire time. 

I flushed, and we both turned away from each other, though I had the sense to keep a hold of his hand and try to play off my burning face as modesty.

 

* * *

 

When we got back to the ship, neither of us had said anything to each other, just held hands and avoided eye contact. Though, it seemed like his face was just as red as mine, so I had that.

Hunk and Pidge came up on either side of me the moment the ship doors closed, slapping me on the back and dragging me away from Lance excitedly. When I glanced back, Lance looked like he wanted to follow, but I noticed Shiro stepping in the intercept, looking serious. 

Fuck, oh no. I didn't have time to worry about whatever he was about to tell him, though, because the ultimate wingmen (in the most sarcastic sense of the word “ultimate”) were pulling me along and whispering to me.

“Dude! You did it!” Pidge exclaimed, and we filed into their room simply because it was the closest.

“I feel like I'm gonna be sick.” I muttered, feeling a bit woozy. I'd kissed him. I'd  _ kissed Lance.  _ Why would I do that?

“Woah there, steady.” Hunk held my shoulder reassuringly. I nodded, swallowing audibly.

“I can't believe that actually happened.”

“Us either, my man. We didn't expect you to do so well.” Pidge clapped me on the back, grinning. “You totally set that scene up perfectly, it was the most Extra™ thing I've ever seen.” They pulled out their polaroid.

“You didn't-” but they cut me off.

“Oh, I did.” They showed me a picture, and there we were. It was a little motion blurred, Pidge had probably been fucking sprinting towards us to get this angle right. But the moment was there, Lance and I, holding each other close, faces pressed together.

“Can I…?” I stared at it, eyes glued to the screen. It was  _ real _ . A bit blurry, and Pidge's thumb was totally covering the corner of the lens, but that didn't mean it wasn't actual photo evidence of what took place.

“Keep it? Yeah, I'll try and get you one printed off. I'm thinking with a bit of editing and sharpening things up, I might be able to fix it enough to put it on t-shirts or something. Make merchandise. It's only common sense that we make use of this rumor.” They pushed up their glasses, and my face went red.

“You're going to...put that on a  _ shirt _ ?!”

“I'm just giving the people what they want.” I huffed, not going to bother arguing. It was a painful reminder, though.

“That didn't  _ feel  _ staged.” I mumbled, feeling frustrated. “I hate that that was all just...fake.” I clenched my fists, and Hunk gave me a soft look.

“You might be surprised.” He said, gently. I sighed, blinking the moisture from my eyes.

“I sure hope so.”

 

* * *

 

The next morning, Lance and I kept our distance, eyes averted and pretending the other wasn't there. Maybe he was regretting the whole thing. He was probably wishing we had just come clean from the start. After all, it had lead to him needing to kiss  _ me _ , someone he could hardly stand sharing a room with, let alone spit and fruity lip balm (his, not mine) and weighted breaths down each other's throats.

If the rest of the team noticed, they didn't comment on it. Before, there had been teasing banter. There was a lack of seriousness about the whole thing. Kissed fingertips and casually dropping “darling”s and “babe”s like it didn't mean anything.

Maybe I'd crossed a line.  _ But, _ I thought, biting my chapped lips nervously,  _ it's a line I really want to cross again. _

And he'd hugged me. No doubt about that. When  _ nobody was around.  _ That had to mean  _ something,  _ didn't it? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a short chapter today (and by that I mean half the length of the others oops), because I'm still trying to figure out what direction I want to take with this fic. Either way, things are starting to get a bit more serious so Stay Tuned™  
> I love y'all, please keep leaving comments for me bc I appreciate them so much


	5. No Homo Mouth Wrestling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “It’s not what it looks like! We weren't kissing, we were wrestling with our mouths. Angrily. Like rivals do.” The look he gave me was less than convinced, and I know I'd hardly convinced myself, either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating yesterday yikes ,, I've been trying to figure out what direction I'm going to go for in this fic, so this is a bit of a self indulgent, filler chapter

I was having a crisis. I'd totally kissed Keith and it had totally been  _ phenomenal.  _ Like, the man had the nicest lips? And his mouth tasted like warmth and salt and passion, even though I knew he was only doing it for the contest.

Fuck. We'd been competing to see who could get the other more smitten, and he'd sure as hell won. I felt like my face was burning up, constantly, because I couldn't  _ stop  _ thinking about it. The twat. Just because he has the perfect mouth doesn't mean he should be allowed to be  _ better  _ than me at  _ kissing  _ of all things. Which he definitely was.

As far as feelings go, I think I'm still in the clear, at least. Like, my rival might be a good kisser, but that's something one can definitely observe from a completely uninterested and casual perspective, right? I might like his  _ lips _ , but I still don't like  _ him. _ Right.

It really didn't help that I'd had to remind Shiro that it was all fake, just a part of the charade. Because he looked dead serious when he approached me and told me to be careful, that I was treading on unstable ground. Which was true, I had to admit.

We were still rivals. Nothing more. Well, a bit more. We were rivals with benefits. Rivals who make out in secret. Wait, no. The opposite of that. Lovers who rival in secret? Is that what we were?

He didn't seem to be down for continuing the whole competition thing. I mean, he  _ had  _ won. Quit while you're ahead or something.  _ It can't end now! I have to one-up him! _

Okay, so what's more romantic than a kiss? I was, quite frankly, stumped. Maybe I should buy him flowers or something. No, that's a dumb idea.

First step is to get the contest back up and running. I can figure things out from there. Keith had seemed distant all day, and I frowned. When he left the table after dinner, I decided to follow him and talk to him about continuing things.

“Keith!” He startled when I called his name. He swiveled around, facing me suspiciously.

“Uh, what?” Shoving his hands in his pockets, I saw his face go pink.

“Are we still doing this contest or what?”

“C-contest?” His eyebrows shot up for a moment, before furrowing. “What are you talking about?”

“You know! Like, racing to make the other blush. And stuff. Wait, you weren't keeping track?”

“That...was a competition?” His head tilted slightly, and the confusion on his face was quite frankly adorable...

“Was it...not?” We stood there in silence for a moment longer, blinking at each other as it all fell into place.

“Well, if that's the case, I guess I've already won.” He said, suddenly looking very smug, and stepping towards me.

“No way! I was totally winning, you just totally stopped trying today and I-” My flustered argument was cut off when he pushed me against the wall, one hand gripping my thigh in a tight grasp and the other clamped around my jaw as he pushed his lips into mine, pressing me further against the smooth surface at my back.

I made a high pitched noise in the back of my throat, one that I'm not quite proud of. I closed my eyes though, after the moment of shock died down, smirked into his lips and pushed back.

I heard him whimper into my mouth, a sound so small and unintentional that triumph surged through my chest. We pulled apart, a string of saliva still connecting our mouths. It was a wet, hot kiss that sent sparks soaring through me.

“This is why I win, right?” He said, and I stared into his eyes, face so close to mine that I could still feel his breath on my lips.

“Uh, no. I demand a rematch!” And I pulled him tight to me before spinning him around, and it was his turn to get pinned against the wall. One forearm on the wall above his head, and the other hand pressed firmly against his chest, I tilted my head and leaned down into kiss number three, this time more aggressive and competitive in nature.

I bit his bottom lip teasingly, before stepping away. “See? I'm the real winner here.” We were both red faced and bitter, before he heaved a sigh and relented.

“Fine, we're tied.” I frowned, side-eyeing him and thinking for a moment before agreeing.

“Alright, we're tied. But mark my words, I'll be pulling ahead before you know it.” I turned away, and we made to part ways, but I couldn't help but notice the soft smile that graced his lips when he thought I wasn't looking anymore.

I couldn't help but copy it with my own. Of all our stupid competitions, this was by far my favorite of them. When I turned to go to my own room though, I almost ran directly into Pidge. They just smirked knowingly, and said “Gay.” Before walking past me, a stammering (and gay...well, bisexual) mess at their back. 

  
  


* * *

 

 

Maybe it was a mistake to make aggressively making out with Keith a casual thing that happened. First of all, because it was an equal exchange. Like, yes, it makes him go red and embarrassed, but it also makes  _ me  _ red and embarrassed.

Secondly, because when Shiro walked into the room while Keith had his tongue down my throat, we literally had no excuse. Like, the whole thing before, that had been practicing and growing accustomed to acting coupley. Completely no homo territory.

But when I thought about it, this was getting just a bit...well, homo. Because when I gave the excuse, “It’s not what it looks like! We weren't kissing, we were wrestling with our mouths. Angrily. Like rivals do.” The look he gave me was less than convinced, and I know I'd hardly convinced myself, either.

Maybe this wasn't as normal a thing for nemeses to do as I'd originally thought. Either way, the whole ship knew about it before long, and the teasing was relentless. Not that it stopped either of us.

My lips were feeling swollen and kind of bruised by the end of the day. Maybe most nemeses don't kiss, but this wasn't lovey-dovey, this was fucking abuse. I don't think the word “kissing” even describes whatever the fuck kind of warfare was going on between us.

I pressed a finger against my bottom lip, wincing slightly at the pressure. It had undergone a lot of biting within the past twenty-four hours.

Fortunately, the next day we slowed down a bit. Both of us looked at each other at breakfast, gazes drifting down to sore mouths, and then eye contact made and mutual agreement was reached.

Keith's lips never stopped being electric though. Kissing him was a lot like fighting with him. It started with one, innocent move, a tiny, hair of a trigger. Then, before we really knew what had happened or  _ why _ , it had escalated and everything was loud and meaningless and aimed to hurt.

Everything about it was static, stimulating even after we pulled apart.

“You two had enough face sucking?” Pidge asked, raising their eyebrows at us from across the table. My face tinged pink.

“Pidge.” Shiro warned, shooting her a look. Then he turned to us. “In all seriousness, you two do need to calm down. I understand that tensions are high, but we have to keep things...well, PG, at the very least.” I've never gone so red so fast, and to my mild relief, Keith was also looking like a fucking tomato.

“We weren't-” I started, at the same time as Keith stammered out a similar reaction. We looked at each other, then looked away.

“In any case, we aren't going easy on either of you during training today, so you'd best be prepared.” I nodded, not trusting my mouth not to say something regrettable.

Maybe we had to tone down the whole tongue-wrestling competition, but no way was I going to let up out-romancing him.

Either way though, I couldn't look him in the face for the rest of the day, thanks to that whole discussion. This battle would resume tomorrow.

One might say it was on... _ standbi.  _

 

* * *

 

“Alright, look,” A red-faced Keith was telling me, “If we're going to convince people that we're in  _ love _ , we might want to try being a bit less savage when it comes to...er…” He stammered uncomfortably, not making eye contact. I grinned, shoving my hands in my pockets and leaning closer.

“Mhm? When it comes to what?” He glared at me.

“Kissing. We need to look like a good couple.” He pouted, and I found my eyes fixated on his mouth, still a little bruised from the day before.

“Alright.” I leaned forward, starting to press our mouths together, softly this time, but he pulled away. I pulled back, my neck and ears feeling uncomfortably hot. “What?”

“I didn't mean  _ right now. _ Just...in front of people.” He mumbled, kicking the floor lightly with one foot and blushing darkly. Oh. Right. I tried to play it off coolly, though it was less than effective.

“Oh, right. I guess.”

“Yeah.” We stood there uncomfortably in silence for a moment, before Hunk saved my ass and turned the corner, walking in on our awkward moment.

“Oh, uh, was I interrupting something?” He asked, moving to back away.

“No! No, you're good. See ya, Keith.” I waved at him, hurrying to Hunk's side and turning the corner, escaping the situation.

When we were what I deemed a safe distance away, I broke down, stopping Hunk with a light touch to the shoulder and leaning against the wall, groaning. “Hunk, my man, I am facing a crisis.”

“What's wrong?” He sounded concerned. “Should we have a group meeting in Pidge's room?” I nodded, dragging myself over to their room and slumping onto their bed next to them.

“So what's up?” Hunk asked. Pidge didn't even question our presence.

“I think…” I sat up, pulling my knees to my chest. My face burned. “I think I have a crush on Keith.” I looked at them, gauging their reaction. They both seemed surprised, but not as surprised as they should've been.

“Wait, Lance, you didn't realize until now?” Hunk asked. Oh. That's what he was shocked about.

“No! I didn't like him until now!” I objected, and Hunk and Pidge made eye contact, bursting into a fit of laughter.

“Lance! We would've just fucking told you if we realized you were so oblivious. Oh my god. We thought you knew.” My face was reddening like never before.

“Don't laugh! This is a serious problem!” I exclaimed, turning away and pouting. Hunk placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder, but Pidge was still cackling, like the heartless gremlin they were. “What do I  _ do _ ?”

“Whatever you've been doing has gotten your tongue down his throat, so maybe just keep doing that.” Pidge managed to advise between wheezes. I glared at them, though I couldn't be truly angry. They had a point.

“But that's different! He's doing that because he  _ has  _ to, not because he  _ wants  _ to.” I grumbled, distraught.

“Yes, it was absolutely necessary for him to make out with you, when nobody was watching, in the middle of space-”

“It was angry making out. Not romantic. Not because he  _ likes  _ me. He hates me!”

Pidge snorted, seeming to be sadistically amused at my pain. “Right. Of course.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that was a bit steamier than I was expecting, but I mean ,, all my friends tell me I write the best kissing scenes, so I'm going for it
> 
> I'll try to update soon, please remember to comment and kudos and all that good shit.
> 
> Also, for my fellow Canadians, happy Canada 150th !! This is ,, two hours early ,, when I'm submitting it ,,, but I'm guessing it'll be tomorrow by the time anyone reads it so  
> Yeah


	6. He's Soft!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “If it's interfering with the team, we might want to stop the whole fake dating thing.” Hunk pointed out, sounding nervous. “I mean, allies are great and everything, the whole diplomatic situation has been great, don’t get me wrong, but that doesn't mean much if we can't actually fight.”
> 
> “No!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, I know it's been a while since I've updated. 
> 
> Introducing: an actual fucking plot
> 
> Kind of
> 
> Also my girl Natalie I know u stalk my fics so I made this chapter Extra Soft just for u babe ;) ily

“He tried to kiss me.” I whispered, breathlessly. My face was still burning from the experience. Shiro raised an eyebrow at me.

“That isn't news.”

“Nonono, like.  _ Softly. _ Like, he's  _ soft. _ ” I clarified, and he sighed, looking amused.

“So, tried?”

“I pushed him away.”

“...why?”

“I, uh, panicked.” Shiro pressed his fingertips to his forehead, exasperated.

“Of course you did.”

 

* * *

 

I couldn't keep my eyes off of Lance. Not that it was anything new. Fake dating, I could take. Aggressive make out sessions, I could handle. Gentle kisses when nobody was watching, though? No way. My pining gay ass couldn't take it.

We'd all gathered at the table when Allura entered, announcing that we were going to form Voltron. “As a test. We haven't needed to in a while, and we can't have you getting rusty. As well as the current... interpersonal situation.” She raised her eyebrows at me, and I felt a deep flush grace my cheeks.

Of course Allura knew. She wasn't dumb. And the mice were the biggest gossipers in the castle. I don't think they even know the meaning of the word “secret”.

“Okay. Everyone, suit up.” Shiro stood, and we all followed suit, sleepily and unenthusiastically heading towards our hangars and into our lions.

“It's been a while.” I murmured softly to Red, and she purred, accepting me eagerly. It was nice to feel her reassuring buzz in my mind as I flew out of the hangar, flying around a bit purely out of boredom. I quickly spotted the Blue Lion, though it pained me that it caught my eye so easily.

Shiro's face flickered up beside me. “Alright, team. We might not be in any real danger, but we still need to stay sharp. Form Voltron!” I could hear Lance whoop from his own Lion, and felt my lips twitch up fondly.

Then we started to merge, and the mind meld began. Usually, the other paladins’ presence in my mind were gentle, reassuring. A faint hum of their emotions floating just beyond my own.

For some reason, this time was different. My mind felt crowded, prodded at. I felt like they could all see it written across my brain, everything.  _ I'm hopelessly in love with Lance McClain. I've been taking advantage of this situation more than I should be. _

I almost immediately pulled the brakes on the merging, impulsively. All of our Lions jolted apart, their smooth movements turned sharp and finicky. The presences invading my mind drifted away, but I could still hear my heartbeat pounding in my temples and my breathing hastening.

“What happened?” Hunk asked, and I swallowed, trying to compose myself. Lance's face popped up, looking just as panicked as I'd been.

“Is it just me, or was that a lot...louder than usual?” He asked, face and ears flushed red.

“Yeah, you guys were like,  _ intruding  _ on my mind way more than usual.” I agreed, thankful that I wasn't the only one.

Shiro frowned. “I didn't feel anything strange.” Pidge and Hunk quickly sided with him, leaving me feeling exhausted and humiliated. 

“Oh.” Was all I could manage, voice cracking.

“Should we try again?”

“No!” Lance and I shouted our objections at the same time.

That's when Allura joined in on the conversation. “This is a common side-effect of conflict between paladins. You should all get back to the castle, we'll have to sort this out more directly.” She sounded mildly frustrated.

I felt my anger at the situation growing as we all gathered in the common room, standing a good few steps away from my bored-looking teammates and crossing my arms over my chest.

“It seems the situation between you two is preventing us from forming Voltron.” Allura commented, giving us both stern looks. I couldn't meet her gaze, and when I looked over, I saw Lance was no better.

“If it's interfering with the team, we might want to stop the whole fake dating thing.” Hunk pointed out, sounding nervous. “I mean, allies are great and everything, the whole diplomatic situation has been great, don’t get me wrong, but that doesn't mean much if we can't actually fight.”

“No!” Lance's voice cracked as he objected, and I felt a blush creeping up my neck. If we stopped the whole charade, we wouldn't have a proper excuse to hold hands. We wouldn't have an excuse to be boyfriends, or anything more than rivals. I couldn't help but agree with him, to my own disdain. As selfish as it was, I didn't want to give this up.

His outburst earned him several raised eyebrows. Wait a minute. My own eyebrow jumped onto that bandwagon. Why would  _ Lance  _ want to keep this up? He turned an adorable shade of red.

“I mean, if we drop the act, all of the planets we've recruited so far will lose trust for us, at best.” He explained, his fingertips drumming nervously on his thigh.

“He does have a point, but-” Shiro began to argue, but I cut in.

“We can keep it up. Trust me. Lance and I can, uh, work things out on our own. Don't worry. We'll... we'll fix it.” I swallowed, looking anywhere that wasn't the eyes of my comrades.

“Right. Yeah. We can get it sorted out. Don't worry about a thing.” Lance confirmed, a little shakily. He stepped over and swung an arm around my shoulders, causing me to stiffen and go red. “It’s nothing that some bro time can't fix.”

Allura frowned. “Fine. Get yourselves sorted out. We’ll try again tomorrow, and make our decision then.”

Lance led me away from the others, who were all looking a little amused and a lot tired. Fed up with our bullshit, probably.

“So.” I stuck my hands in my pockets, awkwardly waiting for him to remove the limb that had drifted from over my shoulders to around my waist.

He didn't seem to notice my pining, because he kept his arm where it was. “We've got to bond or something before tomorrow swings around.” I urged.

“Right. Bonding time. My room, or yours?” Our doors were fairly close to each other, Lance's being a bit closer to the common room.

“Uh, yours, I guess?” I found myself biting my lip with nerves, uncertain what he had in mind.  _ Don't you dare think perverted thoughts now. Don't. It won't help.  _ I scolded myself internally, as he pushed open his door like he was inviting me to something posh and important, as opposed to a standard ship bedroom, the only personality being a couple bottles of lotion and a pair of blue lion slippers, abandoned on the floor next to his bed.

“Alrighty.” He closed the door behind me, and I startled when it clicked. I  _ might  _ be the  _ slightest bit  _ jumpy. He practically lounged on his bed, and patted a spot at the end. “You can sit too, you know.”

I reluctantly perched at the edge of his bed. “So what are we doing, exactly?”

“I dunno. We could talk about our feelings or something.” He waggled his eyebrows enticingly.

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, right.”

“I'm serious, though. We need to get this-” he gestured vaguely between us, “Sorted out.”

I was growing more and more uncomfortable by the minute, dreading the conversation to come. “I...I guess. Uh…” I didn't know where to start. Or what I could say, that would fix this relationship without (a) tipping him off that I'm madly and hopelessly in love, or (b) ending this whole dating act we've put up.

“So, what's going wrong? Is it my hand holding? Because I know my game is kind of weak and I'd totally understand you being upset with that, like, my palms are always sweaty and gross, and I thought at first that was normal with hand holding, but now I'm thinking maybe it's not? Because if that's just a me thing, I'm sorry, because that's really gross-” He was rambling, and I was struggling to keep up with the word vomit he was launching at me.

“I don't hate your hands.” I assured, when I knew I'd gotten the gist of what he was saying. Then, my impulsivity told me to wrap my fingers around his and squeeze his hand reassuringly, and I did, before I could convince myself I was heading into dangerous territory. “And I'm pretty sure sweaty hand holding isn't just a you thing.” My eyebrows knit together. “At the very least, it's a you and I thing.” He heaved a sigh of relief.

“Okay, but wait. If it's not that, what is it? I thought we had a good thing going here?” He stared down at our linked hands for a split second too long, before ignoring them completely. “Why isn't this working? Do you secretly hate me or something? Because damn, me too, haha, we already have something in common! I-”

“I don't hate you, Lance.” I frowned, and he looked a little bit doubtful. “Maybe it wasn't working because you  _ thought  _ I hated you? And we weren't on the same page? Or something?” I knew for a fact that the problem was definitely my pining and  _ not  _ his uncertainty, but I suggested it anyways for the sake of calming his nerves and avoiding the real issues.

“Oh! Oh, right. That. Makes sense. Uh, sorry about that.” He went very red, very fast. Then he smirked dangerously. “I guess you just have to prove to me that you like me, then.”

It was my turn to go crimson. “What, is that a challenge?” We both leaned in competitively, though every part of me was screaming that our faces were too close.  _ Too close, too close. God, he has freckles. Since fucking when? Don't look at his mouth. Don't- _

“Isn't everything, with us?” He said, breathlessly. I made the mistake of looking at his mouth. I could feel his breath as he spoke, hot on my lips. And...god, he's a mouth breather. How did I not know this before? Lance McClain, a filthy mouth-breather, and I never knew, but it's really hot and…

“Challenge accepted.” I breathed, before closing the gap between our mouths and kissing him gently, softer this time. It was hardly even a kiss, our lips touched so lightly. It felt as though his mouth was charged, zapping so much sensation into me every time I touched it that I couldn't dare press harder.

We bumped noses, but he took the initiative and tilted his head. When he finally moved forward, firmly pressing his own lips against mine, I let an involuntary noise escape me, resonating from deep in my throat. He ghosted his fingertips along my neck, before they found their way to my hair and started combing through it gently. All of it, so light, so soft I could barely feel it. I probably wouldn't have, if I weren't so hyper-aware of the moment.

When he pulled away, my heart was pounding in my chest. It took a split second of eye contact for me to scramble backwards, panicking. “Uh, no homo. Goodnight.” In a flurry of limbs, I stood up, leaving the equally flustered mess that was Lance behind me and escaping the situation as fast as I could.

I was dreading tomorrow's practice session even more now, and my uncertainty with where Lance and I stood was stronger than ever. Despite that, I couldn't help but break into a huge grin as I made my way to my own room and flopped onto my bed, face planting into my pillow and barely containing a squeal.

While I drifted into unconsciousness, I could almost still feel Lance's perfect lips, the memory was so vivid. And he  _ definitely  _ had some kind of fruity lip balm, I could now confirm. He tasted citrusy, and warm. Touching him was the same as hot sunlight burning your skin. It was submerging yourself in freezing water. It was like...the most sensational, immersive thing you can imagine, times two.

His breath tastes like mint toothpaste, and his skin is impossibly smooth. For sure, I'm in way too deep, now that I've felt his lips at their finest. That ridiculous, gorgeous boy has me completely taken. I was at the bottom of a deep pool, and now the surface is frozen over.

Lance. Lance McClain. I am  _ so fucking screwed. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keith is a Soft, Panicked Gay who kisses ppl impulsively and then says "no homo" and runs away. Confirmed. 
> 
> Hope y'all liked this chapter, drop me some kudos or comments if you liked this chapter bc honestly I need to validation to work. Like, it's mutualism. Y'all give me nice comments, I give y'all fic. An Equal Exchange. 
> 
> In any case, I'm going to be updating this as frequently as possible this week, which should be very frequent given the fact that I'm off school. Also, aforementioned babe Natalie could use some soft boys rn so I'm writing extra for her sake (ps I love her) 
> 
> Uh, yeah.


	7. keith what the fuck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hunk actually gasps, before facepalming ever so slightly and whispering with a tired frustration. “Keith, why?” He doesn't even sound surprised. Like this whole thing wasn't necessarily what he expected to happen, but now that it has, he feels he should've seen it coming.
> 
> “In any case, I'm feeling like a big spoon tonight, so-”
> 
> “Hold up, you aren't getting any cuddles until you go find him, and get your shit sorted. We have to be able to form Voltron tomorrow, remember?”
> 
> “Shit!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all get new chapters two days in a row I hope your happy
> 
> but for real I got a bunch of nice comments on the last chapter so I'm feeling the real Motivation™ to write, so thanks for that. 
> 
> In any case, enjoy?

Young love is some serious business, let me tell you. One day, I'm drawing the conclusion that I  _ might  _ have a  _ tiny crush  _ on my main rival, and the next, we're kissing softly on my bed.

_ What the fuck, Keith.  _ I totally thought I was doing great with the whole dealing with a crush thing, but apparently not. Who does that?

_ My name is Keith, I enjoy kissing boys and then yelling “No homo!” And running away like the asshole I am, leaving them confused and maybe a little turned on. _

I curled up tightly, resting my chin on my knees and sighing heavily. What did it all mean? Judging by the fact that he literally moaned, I'm assuming it wasn't my inexperienced kissing. But how am I to know? Maybe it was. Maybe it was because rambling about sweat and then casually mentioning your own self-hatred is a bit of a turn off.

Maybe he just inherently doesn't like me.

I stood, determined that if my happy place wasn't available, I could at least go to my prime moping place. I threw on the blue lion slippers, going to the kitchens to grab a Space Caprisun (or whatever they were actually called), and then heading to Hunk's rooms. The optimal sulking location.

If you can't fix your boy problems by kissing a boy, a juice pouch and platonic cuddling works almost as well, from my limited experience.

When Hunk actually got back, he seemed unsurprised to see me sitting cross-legged on the floor, sighing exaggeratedly and surrounded by empty juice pouches. This was, in fact, a common occurrence.

“What's up, buddy?” He sat across from me, and I sighed again, louder and more melodramatic, before promptly swooning into his lap.

“Hunk, I'm dying.”

“Let me guess, it's Keith.” I nodded solemnly, scrambling into a more comfortable position. Hunk and I had this thing, proper ranting protocol, where sitting in his lap and whining was absolutely mandatory.

“We were like, talking it out, like bros do, right? But then my pining bi ass like, low-key flirted with him, asking him to prove that he likes me, right? But in a like, mildly suggestive way, you know? And he leans in all serious and he says, I shit you not, he's like, is that a challenge? And so I say to him, and at this point his face is really close and like he's got that intense look in his eyes, you know? Anyways, I say to him, isn't everything, with us? I was feeling pretty slick with that one, not gonna lie. And-” I'm talking fast, and gesturing wildly while I do so. Hunk has resigned to just hear me out to the end of my tale. “And then he just leans in and kisses me, right? I swear the guy's lips are so chapped, like has he ever heard of moisturizer? Lip balm? It's ridiculous. And his hair is super soft, too. At least he's got that down.”

“Isn't that a good thing? Why are you sulking about that?”

“That's still the good part! The bad part’s coming up. So anyways, we're kissing and stuff, but not like, aggressive, you know? Like, gently.  _ Intimately. _ But then, this asshole! So like, I pull away and he looks me dead in the eye and yells “no homo” and  _ runs away.  _ And now I don't know what to do.”

Hunk actually gasps, before facepalming ever so slightly and whispering with a tired frustration. “ _ Keith, why? _ ” He doesn't even sound surprised. Like this whole thing wasn't necessarily what he expected to happen, but now that it has, he feels he should've seen it coming.

“In any case, I'm feeling like a big spoon tonight, so-”

“Hold up, you aren't getting any cuddles until you go find him, and get your shit sorted. We have to be able to form Voltron tomorrow, remember?”

“Shit!” My voice cracked, and I stood up frantically. I'd totally forgotten about that. “Yeah, I'll just...go find him. Fuck.” A couple panicked moments later, I stood outside of Keith's bedroom.

I took a deep breath, before knocking gently. “Keith?”

No response. I stepped forward cautiously, allowing the door to slide open seamlessly and perfectly silent. I took a moment to thank Altean tech for that, because when I walked in I found Keith, splayed face first on his bed, limbs draped over the edge unceremoniously.

He was asleep, from what I could tell. And... was he wearing his boots?  _ In bed?  _ Of all the weird shit Keith's done today, I'm pretty sure this is the thing I questioned the most.

It was almost endearing, though. “Um, Keith?” I said, a bit louder. He didn't stir. I stepped over carefully, before crouching down and rubbing his arm gently. “Keith? Come on, wake up.”

A moment later I was pinned to the ground, a knife at my throat. Then, a bleary-eyed Keith blinked down at me sleepily, and his eyes widened.

I learned a couple of things in those few brief seconds. The first was that sleepy-Keith was jumpy as hell. The second, he keeps a  _ fucking knife under his fucking pillow.  _ And the third was that his bedhead and squinty eyes were  _ adorable. _

Also, just an observation here, nothing gay, but Keith was straddling me and I was very overwhelmed. “Lance?” He asked, voice still a little off pitch from sleepiness. “Lance!”

He leapt off of me, shoving his knife under his pillow again and backing away. “What the fuck are you doing?”

“I'm sorry! I just, I wanted to, uh, apologize. Because like, I made it weird, and I'm sorry, and now we won't be able to form Voltron anymore and we're going to have to break off all those alliances and…” I ran out of words to say, so I looked up at Keith and smiled shyly. “Uh, yeah.”

His defensive posture slackened, just a little. “Oh...uh, don't worry about it.” He said, sounding uncomfortable.

“Um...okay.” We exchanged an uncomfortably long silence. “Uh, goodnight. I guess. Don't sleep with your shoes on, it's weird.” I broke it with words almost as awkward as the silence was.

“I like to be prepared.” He responded, looking slightly bashful. It was the  _ cutest fucking shit… _

“ _ I  _ like to be comfortable. Preparedness doesn't matter when your feet are too sore to actually take you anywhere.” I argued.

He rolled his eyes, kicking his boots off. “Happy?”

“Very.”

“I think that's just your foot fetish speaking.” He said, raising his eyebrows at me. I choked, the blood rushing to my face.

“I do not have a foot fetish!”

“Right, sure,” he was  _ smirking _ , that stupid, attractive asshole, “goodnight, Lance. Have fun sleeping shoeless.” He waved me off, and I sputtered, trying to find a retort and failing.

“Fine! Maybe I will!” Is what I settled for, leaving the room, all strut and indignance. 

 

* * *

 

Okay, so Keith isn't mad at me. But he's also not super gay for me, either. I don't think. I can deal with that. Just squash down the romantic feelings and settle on being bros.

“Are you ready to form Voltron?” Allura asked, when I entered the common room fashionably late. I glanced over at Keith.

“Uh, yeah, I think so.” Keith made a small, deep noise of confirmation.

Part of coping with hopeless crushes, I think, is inevitably staring at them when they're not looking. I mean, yeah, maybe it won't help, but that doesn't mean taking in Keith's aesthetic qualities isn't going to brighten my day.

I used to be mad jealous about Keith's broad chest and shoulders, his arms that had actual muscle on them, his whole I-Train-Every-Day-Instead-Of-Having-Friends physique in general. Now I was starting to come to terms with that fact that in reality, the man was doing me a favor by being so goddamn attractive. After all, he's the one who works for it, and  _ I'm _ the one who gets to look at it all day.

“Enough eye-fucking, dude.” Pidge hissed in my ear, and I snapped out of my daze, a flush creeping up my neck.

“I was not!”

“You totally were.” After a brief bout of shin-kicking, the conversation was resolved. I grabbed a plateful of food goo, shoveling it into my mouth numbly. Hunk and Shiro were talking in the background, not loud enough for me to really hear.

“Should we go and suit up?” I asked, hesitantly. Would it work this time? Surely it would, now that I'd resolved things with Keith. Right?  

“Now's as good a time as any.” Shiro responded, and I took a moment to admire Keith's back as he stood up and stretched, muscles shifting smoothly.

“Alright.” We were all a bit groggy still, and since there was no real rush, everyone took their sweet time getting into their Lions.

“Form Voltron!” Shiro actually yawned part way through saying that, but we all reached out and felt the pull sucking us together.

Alright, Voltron. Right. This is gonna be fine. It'll work this time, I'm sure. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there's that. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, I don't really have much to say. This was kind of a filler if I'm honest. In any case, I'll probably update again tomorrow, thank y'all for your support!! I love you guys.


	8. Synchronized Shock and Horror

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What did they do?” Hunk explained the situation, and I paled. Keith, what the fuck.
> 
> “Okay, okay. We can still fix this. Things aren't completely fucked up yet. We just...uh...we just need a plan.” I paced, biting my bottom lip thoughtfully. “We just need to get them to realize their feelings for each other before the battle with Zarkon picks up again. We don't know when that will be, though, so we can't accurately measure our timeframe…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit short, and it's also got Pidge PoV because...well, this scene kind of needed y'all to know what the fuck they were thinking. 
> 
> In any case, here comes the actual plot, so buckle your seatbelts kiddos.

None of us had had high hopes when it came to forming Voltron this time. The whole team knew that Lance and Keith were hopelessly pining, from what I could tell, which wouldn't be a huge problem if they weren't the  _ densest motherfuckers… _

That's why I was standing in the doorway, asking Allura. “Um, Princess, are you familiar with the Earth term...wingman?” She turned, and her eyes narrowed slightly with thought.

“Oh, Pidge! Wingman? Hmm, no, I don't believe so?” I linked my hands behind my back, grinning.

“Well, Hunk and I, and I think Shiro, unintentionally, have been playing the role of wingmen for Lance and Keith, and at this point in time, we need you in on it as well.” I began, before explaining to her what it entailed.

“Human courting rituals are quite strange, to say the least.” She commented, and I laughed, pushing my glasses further up my nose. “So you're saying that dropping the act won't help them?”

“I'm afraid not.”

“I'll...keep it in mind.” She winked conspiratorially, and I winked back at her, before leaving. I hurried through the halls. I made the often correct assumption that Hunk was in the kitchen.

I skidded into the room to find my partner in crime there, as I'd anticipated. “Hunk!” He turned, before noticing me and starting to ramble nervously.

“I don't think we'll be able to form Voltron. And now that I've thought about it, Lance is probably going to die of pining if we can't do it and the whole act gets shut down. What if-”

“I've already talked to Allura. You don't need to worry about that. We're not dropping their fake dating.”

“Okay, but last night, everything got worse.”

“What did they do?” Hunk explained the situation, and I paled.  _ Keith, what the fuck. _

“Okay, okay. We can still fix this. Things aren't completely fucked up yet. We just...uh...we just need a plan.” I paced, biting my bottom lip thoughtfully. “We just need to get them to realize their feelings for each other before the battle with Zarkon picks up again. We don't know _when_ that will be, though, so we can't accurately measure our timeframe…”

“We could just tell them?” Hunk suggested. “Like, just tell them that they're mutual. As much as I'd love to let this slow burn-"

“What?! No! Actively communicating with each other is a necessity if they're going to keep a stable relationship.”

“Okay, okay, true. We probably need Keith to initiate the conversation, though, because if he's not ready, even if Lance approaches him he's just going to run away again.”

“Good point.” We sat there together for a moment longer, frozen in thought. “We need to talk to Shiro. Neither of us knows Keith well enough to deal with this. We can sort out a plan after we fail to form Voltron.” 

 

* * *

 

Sure enough, we couldn't do it. Lance and Keith were both completely red in the face and looking angry, and I let a sigh of exasperation escape me.

“Okay, we need to make a plan of some sort. We can't keep this up.” Shiro started. “You two obviously aren't working things out on your own.” He added, a touch harshly.

“Sorry Shiro,” Keith sounded legitimately apologetic, and I almost felt bad for the guy. It's not his fault he's oblivious as hell and incapable of talking about his feelings. “We should probably just-”

He stopped mid sentence. When I saw what he was looking at, I could understand why. All that time on standby, no Galras on our tails, we'd known they were probably building up to something. Something  _ big. _

None of us had expected something this physically  _ big _ , though. And certainly not so soon. My eyes widened as we all stared up at the giant robeast in front of us. It was probably twice the size as Voltron, and when we were separated into our Lions, it looked massive and deadly.

Speaking of Voltron...we were completely, utterly defenseless right now, what with all these tensions running so high.

I acted on impulse alone in that moment. “Guys, we're going to need Voltron right now! I hate to do this, but Keith, Lance totally likes you back. And vice versa. Now quit pining for one moment, because the cat's out of the bag, and form fucking Voltron! No secrets to hide, it doesn't matter! It doesn’t matter if you're invading each other's privacy! There's nothing to lose!” I announced, and I saw the two idiots floundering for a moment, panic and shock settling in.

It was probably going to make things worse later, having it all come out like this, but at this point in time we really couldn't afford to have secrets, and I was hoping that this reveal would be enough for them to man up (no pun intended) and form Voltron, at least for this battle.

On Earth, psychologists can measure brain waves using advanced technology; it was discovered that when people's neurotransmissions line up frequently, it often means those people have a good, stable connection. The best way to have this happen is through laughing with someone. Otherwise, shared emotions or memories can also cause it.

I'm assuming a mutual shocked horror really isn't the ideal when it comes to neurological alignment, but if it was enough to save our asses, I'd be glad for it.

To my luck, it was enough, because in that moment of  _ Did Pidge really just blurt that out oh my god what were they even thinking _ , we were all thinking the exact same thing (myself not excluded).

Maybe I was overestimating the size of Voltron in comparison to this robeast. It was  _ huge _ , definitely _more_ than twice our size, and we were clumsy at best on an unstable connection.

“Um, Allura?” I asked, voice actually quavering.

Allura's face appeared in front of me, and all she said was a breathless, worried whisper.

“This isn't a fight that we're going to win.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ;)


	9. Trust Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge started tearing up in front of me, angry tears pooling up in the corners of their eyes. “Well sorry for not being a selfish asshole. Sorry for caring about the lives of my friends.” They turned on their heel, stomping out. They leaned back into the doorway. “If you could get your head out of your ass and trust me, we wouldn't be in this situation to start with!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yikes drama and angst. Also, I know I dropped a cliffhanger and then ditched you for three days, I'm sorry about that.   
> I've had some stuff going on irl, and I've been working on something different to just kind of...get my mind off of it ? Something a bit lighter. In any case, this is mostly unedited so sorry if it's all really yikes and bad.

Putting it simply, we got our asses whooped. We managed to form Voltron, but our movements were sloppy, and I was distracted to say the least.

We were all a little worse for wear when we finally managed to escape, but Lance had been taken the brunt of it. Voltron had been broken apart violently, Lance's leg being physically ripped off of Voltron. Before we could even process what happened, Lance was unconscious, and the rest of Voltron disassembled. Thank God for Allura's piloting skills, and a perfectly timed wormhole, or we probably wouldn't have been able to haul the Blue Lion out of there. Our Lions all struggled back into the hangars, and we were going to need to do some major repairs before we could fly any of them again.

Not to mention the fact that we were all still so out of sync. What the fuck, Pidge.  _ What the fuck.  _ I could hardly stand to look at them, with the weight of what they'd done.

If their announcement in of itself wasn't bad enough for my confused, pining heart, watching Lance get thrown into a cryopod for an indefinite amount of time definitely sealed the deal.

Pidge appeared in the doorway, looking tentative. “What do you want?” I demanded, crossing my arms over my chest and frowning, leaning unashamedly against Lance's pod. Everyone already knew about my stupid crush, anyways.

“Hey, um, Keith. Look, I'm  _ sorry. _ ”

“You told him! Pidge, I don't  _ care  _ if you've apologized, that doesn't change the fact that he knows now, because  _ you  _ couldn't keep your stupid mouth shut-!”

“Keith, shut up.” Pidge walked up to me with indignant anger in their eyes, cutting me off. “I said what I had to say for us to form Voltron. Would you rather I'd said nothing and Lance had been killed for real?!” Their gaze was blazing, and I fought the urge to step backwards.

“Maybe I would!” I growled, defensively. Lance had been frozen for three days now, and didn't show any signs of being able to come out any time soon. “Maybe I'd prefer it if that asshole was dead!”

There hadn't been time to  _ talk  _ about the bomb Pidge had dropped. Lance seemed to have a  _ habit  _ of getting himself seriously injured the moment something important happened between us.

Pidge started tearing up in front of me, angry tears pooling up in the corners of their eyes. “Well  _ sorry  _ for  _ not  _ being a selfish asshole. Sorry for  _ caring  _ about the lives of my  _ friends. _ ” They turned on their heel, stomping out. They leaned back into the doorway. “If you could get your head out of your ass and trust me, we wouldn't be in this situation to start with!”

Then they were gone, and there was nothing left to do but stare at the space they'd occupied a moment before. I sighed, leaning against Lance's pod and sliding down to the floor, knees folded up to my chest.

Groaning, I looked up at his unnervingly unmoving figure. “I’m sorry.” I told him out loud, not caring that I wouldn't get a response as I trailed a hand along the glass. “This is my fault, in the first place.” I gritted my teeth together, clenching my fists as my shoulders started shaking, and I heaved into dry, silent sobs.

“I'm sorry.”

 

* * *

 

I ended up passing out in front of Lance, exhaustion catching up to me. It wasn't my first time sleeping there. I avoided eye contact with Pidge all through breakfast, though I knew they were blatantly glaring daggers at me. And I couldn't miss the way Hunk and Shiro were eyeing the two of us with concern.

Coran didn't seem to sense the tension. “We're landing on one of our allies’ planets today. They're willing to offer some of their planet's resources to help repair the Lions,” he continued to explain, “Since we don't want to raise suspicions that Lance is out of commission, we'll only send two of you out. Since Hunk and Shiro have the largest Lions, they'll be the ones to go out and transport the alloys this planet has to offer.”

I froze. Okay, maybe Coran had figured out that something was up. I glanced over at Pidge, who indiscreetly looked away and started talking to Coran. “How come our Lions are repairable with physical elements? If they can be restored with this metal, shouldn't anybody be able to make a Lion? If they wanted to?”

Coran started explaining it in scientific words that I'm sure would be interesting if I understood them. I sighed, finishing my food goo and standing up. “I'm going to go, uh, hit the training deck for now, I guess.”

Nobody said anything when I left, and so I let my frustrations consume me. I turned the training level higher than I could feasibly handle.  _ Stupid, stupid, stupid… _

I fought the simulator over and over, earning myself more than a few cuts and bruises along the way. I let myself get trampled by the thing, ignoring when my body told me I should end the training sequence.

That is, until a deep, stern voice called from the sidelines. “End training sequence!” I glared over at Shiro, panting with exertion.

“What was that for?” He raised his eyebrows at me, glancing down at my obviously battered form.

“We can't have you killing yourself on the training deck. Hunk and I are going to go collect the resources for restoring our Lions. I suggest you talk to Pidge while we're gone.” He crossed his arms and gave me a very fatherly look. “Tensions are high. This is a difficult situation. We need to stay a team. The Galra could be back at any time.” He clapped me on the shoulder reassuringly, and I stumbled a little; there wasn't much force behind his action, though.

“Right. Sure.” I said, wiping sweat from my brow with the back of my hand. “I'll talk to them.” He smiled fondly, before turning his back to me.

“Remember, I'm here to talk any time.” He called over his shoulder on his way out.

“Yeah.” I forced a grim smile onto my face, but it strained my cheek muscles and I dropped it quickly.

One long shower and a shaky walk later, I stood in the doorway to where Pidge was working on...something.

“Uh, hey.” I called out, unsure how to start this conversation.

“I'm busy.” Their voice monotoned back, without turning to look at me.

“Right.” I left it at that.

I spent the rest of the evening trying to ignore my aching muscles, and talking to Lance's unconscious body. He looked so still, and it made me uncomfortable. Because this was _ Lance, _ who was always moving. He never sat still, always bouncing a leg or fiddling with his hands or  _ something. _

Even when we'd held hands, it was never still. He'd flip it into a thumb war, or he'd squeeze my fingers of trace constellations in my palm.

I found my fingers drumming on the glass as I vented to him, sitting at the base of his pod and talking frustratedly.

“What are we even fighting about?” I asked him, not expecting a response. “What did I  _ do _ ?” I pounded a fist on the surface of his pod. “This isn't _ me.  _ This isn't my fucking fault. I didn't-” My soliloquy was broken by a sob. “I didn't  _ ask  _ for this! For these...these stupid feelings! This whole stupid charade. I didn't  _ ask  _ for you to hold my hand and kiss me and for you to not  _ mean  _ any of it!” I hissed, pressing my side against the cool exterior of Lance's cryopod.

Lance radiated heat. He was a bonfire, and these feelings for him were the mosquitos that bit the shit out of you, somehow managing to bite through your socks and jeans and leaving an angry itch behind you.

Being near him was addictive, but the moment you leave, of course you notice it. You notice your sunburnt cheeks and the red marks covering your body. It almost makes you wonder if it was worth it.

It was wrong. To be talking to a Lance who was unresponsive instead of babbling, who was still instead of jittery, who was cold to the touch and looked so, so  _ dead. _

“I hate you.” I whispered, pressing my forehead to the glass and trying to ignore the warm lines of moisture making their way down my cheeks. “I hate you!” I yelled it this time, biting my lip angrily and turning away from him. “I fucking...I fucking hate you. You and your stupid face and your stupid mouth!” I shoved my hands in my pockets, looking up at the ceiling and inhaling deeply.

“I fucking  _ despise  _ you, Lance McClain.” And with that, I squinted my eyes closed to remove the excess tears, and casually walked out of the infirmary.

I could swear I saw a flash of green disappear from the doorway, but it could've been my imagination. 

 

* * *

 

The next day, Pidge and I kept avoiding each other like the plague. Shiro kept giving me concerned looks, though, and I could swear I saw Hunk whispering reprimands to Pidge a couple times.

Coran also informed us that Lance would be healing for another five days. That we might be able to finish repairing his Lion by that time if we worked hard, but his was the most damaged.

We agreed that we'd start with his, because apparently his connection with Blue would help him heal if we repaired her simultaneously.

The whole repairing business was left mostly up to Coran, Hunk, Allura and Pidge. Shiro and I both knew next to nothing about their composition, so other than running errands bringing pieces back and forth, there wasn't much we could do.

Seeing the Blue Lion for a second time was like a slap to the face. The entire back half of her had been half sliced through, and crushed. When we approached, her particle barrier went up, flickering weakly.

Shiro was allowed in, as were Hunk, Coran, and Allura. But the barrier held strong when Pidge and I tried to enter.

“Come on! Blue? What the fuck, we're trying to fix you!” I slammed a fist on the barrier, but it didn't let up. “Why isn't she letting us in?”

Allura shrugged. “It's connection with Lance, probably. Obviously his connection with you two is...well, to put it bluntly, it seemed Lance doesn't trust either of you.”

Pidge was seething next to me, I could tell. They didn't raise their voice though.

“Oh. Right. Understandable. I can't imagine who would.” The amount of bitterness and resentment in their voice made me flinch. The guilt, as if they were torn between defending themselves and their actions and giving up and agreeing, made a surge of emotion rise in me.

I could connect to the self-loathing, the defeat in their voice, as they turned around and began to leave. “I suppose I won't be able to help, then. Lance won't regain his trust in me any time soon.”

“Pidge, wait-” Hunk started to move forward, but Shiro put a hand on his shoulder.

“Give them some space.” He ordered. “We can talk to them later.”

I looked up at the particle barrier. The Blue Lion obviously had so little energy, it could barely keep the thing up.

Would Lance use his dying energy to keep me away? Presumably so. I wordlessly stepped away, making my way to my own rooms. Nobody moved to stop me.

It was like rubbing salt into an already-stinging wound, seeing that barrier. The physical wall between Lance and I.  _ He doesn't trust me. He doesn't trust me. He doesn't… _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't planning on having so much angst in this fic, and I definitely wasn't planning on so much revolving around Pidge, but I wanted to draw things out and realistically, the other paladins are going to be effected by this whole situation. 
> 
> So there's that. 
> 
> Also, I might put this fic on hiatus for a while! It'll be three weeks at most, though. I have a lot of stuff going on in real life right now and at the end of the week I'm leaving on vacation so I'll probably be busy then. So sorry for that. 
> 
> Y'all will probably be left hanging during an angsty time. I might manage to update during that time but it'll still probably be once a week at most. 
> 
> In any case, please leave kudos and comments if you enjoyed, etc. etc., your support is what keeps me writing !!


	10. A Dangerous Pair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I fucked up.” Pidge stated, as we took a moment to stare at Lance. I tried to hide the laugh that was suddenly fighting to overcome me. I ended up snorting, and then cackling. Something about the blunt way they'd put it was just so damn relatable I couldn't help but sad-laugh at it.
> 
> “Fuck,” I crossed my arms, trying to hold myself back. “Me too. We fucked up bad.” Pidge ended up joining me in the maniacal, depressed laughter, and we took a few moments of trying to support each other as we bent double and struggled to breathe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're back from hiatus !! Tbh I don't know where I'm even going to go with this but whatever
> 
> Also I have a major love for some Kidge Brotp can you tell
> 
> (You totally can)

Pidge and I had been told we couldn't approach Blue while they were still fixing her. They didn't want the Lion to waste its energy trying to keep us out while it was still smashed up.

I'd spent a whole day letting the training simulator beat me up while the others worked. I skipped dinner, opting to hide in my room and brood.

Shiro knocked on my door, asking if he could come in. The sheer fatherliness of the action made me tempted to say yes, but I faltered.

I gave in to the impulse. “Sure.” I was curled in a ball on my bed, leaning into the corner miserably. He looked me over, presumably noting how battered I appeared.

“You can't keep this up.” He commented, sitting on my bed next to me. I scowled.

“Why not?”

“The universe needs you.  _ We  _ need you. You have to take care of yourself.” I found my bottom lip trembling, and decided I didn't have the energy to argue with him right now.

“Why doesn't he trust me?” I whispered, voice quavering. I leaned against his shoulder as I broke down, letting the past days’ events catch up to me.

“You haven't exactly been honest with him.” He muttered, rather bluntly. Apparently it was what I needed to hear, though, because it sent my head spinning and my gut lurching.

“God, I need to talk to him.”

He hummed. “You do. He'll be out in a couple days, though. For now, you should probably settle with talking to  _ Pidge _ .”

I grimaced, but he was right. I crawled out of the corner, thanking Shiro profusely. “God, I have to get going. I should...I should tell them  _ now. _ ” I knew I looked like a total, weeping mess, but I didn't care.

He smiled at me fondly. “I'm proud of you.” He clapped me on the shoulder, and I spared him a small, sheepish grin before tearing down the castle hallways.

Pidge's room was empty. I froze upon throwing the door open, looking around briefly before leaving. Where would Pidge be? I checked the Green Lion's hangar. Maybe they was modifying their Lion, or something. That wasn't uncommon.

Pidge wasn't there either. I checked several other rooms in the castle, out of breath and panting, before I ran into Hunk, praise the Lord.

“Hunk, where's Pidge?” I asked, breathing heavily with exertion. I'd been sprinting through the halls for a good half hour, searching.

“I think they're with Lance.” He said, blinking. “You really should talk to them abo-”

“I know.” I cut him off, already making a dash for the med bay.

When I stopped in the doorway, I could hear Pidge's voice on the other side. They sniffled lightly…were they crying?

I cautiously stepped forward, clearing my throat so they'd know I was there. I got a major deja vu moment from our original confrontation.

I was seriously hoping they wouldn't react the same way I had to them, as hypocritical as that is.

“Keith!” They wiped their eyes with the back of their hand quickly, pulling their glasses on. 

I stared at my feet. “I'm sorry.” When I looked up to gauge a reaction, our eyes met. Two pairs of puffy, red eyes. They smiled, a wobbly, sad kind of look.

“Me too.” I don't know who stepped towards who, but we were in a tight hug before I knew it. I'd never been much of a hugger, and neither had Pidge, from my knowledge, but the moment seemed to call for it.

“We need to apologize to Lance.” I mumbled, pulling away from them and shoving my hands in my pockets to stare at him. There was something disturbing about the cryopods.

He was suspended there, and he didn't look alive. Which Lance always did. It was his  _ thing.  _ Shiro our leader, Pidge our hacker, and Lance, the one who's _ alive. _

Always. He was so living, he'd gotten my share of it. It was painful to see him there, so unmoving.

“I fucked up.” Pidge stated, as we took a moment to stare at Lance. I tried to hide the laugh that was suddenly fighting to overcome me. I ended up snorting, and then cackling. Something about the blunt way they'd put it was just so damn relatable I couldn't help but sad-laugh at it.

“Fuck,” I crossed my arms, trying to hold myself back. “Me too. We fucked up bad.” Pidge ended up joining me in the maniacal, depressed laughter, and we took a few moments of trying to support each other as we bent double and struggled to breathe.

I ended up being the first to sink to my knees and start crying. Pidge joined me soon after. Though, we continued  laughing wetly together.

“What a fucking mess.” Pidge said, voice small and hollow.

“So, uh, I'm guessing I'm forgiven?” I ask, just to clarify, wiping tears from my eyes. I sniffle slightly, feeling congested from emotions.

“Hell yeah.” We fist bumped, almost delirious with frustration and exhaustion. My fists were still cut up and bruised from my beating in the training room, and Pidge's knuckles cracked despite the light contact, presumably stiff from typing fast all day.

“And you're still going to help me with Lance?” I asked. They nodded, so I continued. “Um, I know I got mad at you for what you said back there but...did you mean it?”

They blinked at me for a second, before grinning mischievously. A look that fit Pidge so much better than the sulking, sad look from before. “You're gonna have to ask Lance personally about that one.”

“You're the worst.” They cackled, and I found myself smiling with them.

“Three more days until Lance is out. We should both try and be less of a mess by then.” it was a weird kind of comfort, but it worked.

“Step number one would probably be  _ not  _ staying up all night like an insomniac gremlin.” I mentioned, and received a glare in return.

“Speak for yourself, shorty.” We made eye contact, and her angry face dissolved into laughter.

Yeah, maybe we were both a little bit giddy. Just a tad. When we'd composed ourselves once more, I leaned over to Lance, feeling a little better about the whole situation.

“Goodnight, Lance.” I kissed my fingertips and pressed them against the glass, and Pidge snorted behind me.

“Gay.”

“Yeah.”

I'd never had much of a relationship with any of the other paladins, Shiro excluded. Like, obviously we got along, but I'd never thought of them as being people I could go to if I needed to talk. Or people who's sleep patterns I'd genuinely be worried over.

Pidge and I both looked like shit from lack of sleep, so I punched them lightly when we reached their room. “If you don't rest now, I'll fuck you up tomorrow morning.” I threatened, and they punched me back.

“You too. Never underestimate an electric shock at crotch level.”

“Oh, and Pidge?” They paused. “Thanks for saying what you did back there...without you, we'd probably have died in that fight.”

A weight that I hadn't even noticed seemed to have been lifted from their shoulders, and they actually smiled. Like, genuinely. Not a dangerous, threatening smirk. It was one of the first times I've seen them look so appreciative.

“No problem, bro.” We fist pumped again.

“Bro.” I like the sound of that. I'd always considered Pidge a friend, but I hadn't realized that what we had had been far from it. 

The relief that surged through me, having solved that problem, was far from gentle. It was a tsunami of relief, washing me out to sea.

Maybe I'll be able to survive these next three days. Just until Lance gets out. Then I can fix this. I can make things right again. 

 

* * *

 

“This is a dangerous pairing.” Hunk said, bluntly, while Pidge and I giggled conspiratorially together. I was glad to have Pidge as a friend again, especially with the newfound layer of trust we'd built.

The others had been busy repairing Blue, and the plan was to have her finished by the end of the day, so they could move on to the other, more minor repairs.

“Us? Dangerous?” Pidge asked, sounding taken aback. They seemed more awake than usual, though I could tell by the dark rings under their eyes that they'd stayed up late again despite my threats.

“You must be mistaken.” I added, solemnly. Pidge turned back to me.

“So anyways, as I was saying. Why did the castle even make the vents big enough to crawl through? Like, I get that I'm small or whatever, but for real. I could totally eavesdrop whenever I wanted. Or like, intruders could climb through them like a cliche spy movie.”

“Maybe we should put traps in them. Like, haha, you thought you escaped through the vents, you're  _ so  _ clever, and then suddenly  _ poison spikes. _ ” I suggested, and we chattered on, with nothing else to really do.

Hunk sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I guess I'll see you two at dinner. Try not to blow anything up while we work on Blue.”

Pidge ended up ditching me for their computer after Hunk left, though it was understandable. Normally, I'd head to the training deck around now, but I had gotten seriously fucked up by the Gladiator the day before and was in no shape to be training.

The day passed slowly, with nothing for me to actually do. I sighed with relief when Hunk knocked on my door, putting an end to my boredom.

“Dude, you and Pidge should come and check out Blue. She's fully fixed now, so if she puts up her barrier it shouldn't be a problem.” Lance hadn't even been on my mind all day, I realized.

“Sure.”

The Blue Lion was looking better than ever when Hunk and I got Pidge and made our way to the hangar. I stepped closer, but the particle barrier flew up right away.

Pidge and I both shared a guilty look, cringing slightly. Then they punched me, hard, in the stomach. I coughed.

“Don't give me that guilty look. We're going to fix this.” They said suddenly, and I winced from pain.

“Yeah, maybe you could've said that in a less violent way?” I suggested. Allura frowned from off to the side, giving us a strange look.

Pidge just shrugged, and Shiro laughed at my pain.

We stood there for a while longer, Hunk filling Pidge in on what they'd done and talking mechanic stuff that I couldn't understand for the life of me.

Shiro put a hand on my shoulder, and I turned. He smiled at me, eyes crinkling at the corners. 

“I'm glad you and Pidge made up.”

I caught myself grinning. “Me too. I'm going to make this right. And in two days, I'm going to win over Lance's heart.” I said, with more confidence than I'd realized I had.

He snorted. “Yeah, sure. Take your time with that last bit, though.” He shoved me playfully and I staggered a bit, laughing.

“Will do.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I literally don't know what I'm doing.
> 
> Please drop me some kudos or comments or something though? I love That Validation. 
> 
> Also sorry that this chapter was a bit short. I just didn't want to get too far ahead of myself.
> 
> At least Keith and Pidge aren't mad anymore?? I love their friendship tbh had to give them a bonding moment


	11. Pidgeon Stops Meddling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “He thinks that I lied to help you two get past your angst and form Voltron.” Pidge crossed their arms, giving me a smug look. I thought back to what they had said. That Keith and I both had massive crushes on each other.
> 
> “And did you?” I eyed them suspiciously, and they grinned wickedly at me. The fucking gremlin.
> 
> “Maybe you should ask Keith about that one."
> 
> “Oh, fuck you.”
> 
> “You two need to communicate. Sorry. The Pidgeon is done meddling. Go talk to Keith.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's 5am and I'm publishing this without editing. I wrote this over the course of five hours while cussing off my friends in French as they tried to distract me. Honestly what I'm trying to say is please forgive me I'm stressed and I'm only awake right now because I have anxiety and grape soda. 
> 
> Enjoy or w/e we're getting to the part where the title is actually appropriate shdsksdhsd I didn't think it would ever actually happen tbh this title was something I came up with for a different fic and I started drabbling w/ this so i could get the nerve to start writing the other one but my life is a mess and now there's this ?? but I managed to make it work out in the end ayyy im so sorry

I slumped out of the healing pod, falling directly into Keith's arms. I blinked up at him, trying to wake up fully.

 

“Keith?”

 

“That would be me.” I straightened, trying to regain my balance on my own.

 

“What happened?” I was still feeling wobbly, and leaned back into Keith's support, not really caring about how gay it was. Keith wrapped my arm around his shoulders, supporting me.

 

“We can explain once you've gotten something to eat.” He said.

 

“Get it, Keith!” Pidge shouted from a few steps away. He went red, rolling his eyes. I was still too groggy to fully process it, so I blindly stumbled into the kitchen, before disentangling myself from Keith. _Keith._

 

I remembered the robeast, and Pidge. Pidge telling me that Keith...that my feelings for Keith were mutual. I don't know what to make of that.

 

I remember forming Voltron, though it tore me apart. My head had been swimming, invaded and prodded at by the others. Then _pain._ And now here I am.

 

Hunk gave me a plate of goo. The others sat around me and started to explain what had happened.

  
“They ripped your Lion out of Voltron. We managed to carry you back to the castle, but it was a really close battle.”

  
“Wait! Wait wait, is Blue okay?” Hunk nodded.   


“She was in pretty bad shape, but we’ve fixed her up. Don’t worry about it.” I let out a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding. That’s when I looked up and made eye contact with Keith. _Keith._

 

“Right. Uh, thanks. I’m just going to...to go...and do something.” I went to stand up, turning my attention to Pidge. They shrugged, innocently. I glared. Then glanced over at Keith, who turned just a little pink, seemingly to Pidge’s wicked amusement.

 

“Sure. I’ll come along and help you with...something.” Pidge offered, jumping down from where they was sitting on the table. They winked. I glared. For a moment, I think I saw hurt flicker across their expression. A moment of doubt. But then it was gone. I blinked, and stopped giving them dirty looks.

  
The others didn’t seem to be inclined to question or follow us. I presume we all knew what was up. We walked in silence, turning into their room because it was closest.

 

“Pidgeon, what the fuck.” Was all I had to say for that guilty, hurt look to resume its residence on Pidge’s face.

 

“Look, I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t have said anything. I just...we needed to form Voltron. We could have _died,_ Lance. You almost did.” The look they gave me then was firm, assured. I couldn’t meet their eyes.

  
  
“He knows now. How are we supposed to keep...to be…” I couldn’t quite articulate what I meant in that moment. Things between Keith and I would be different. We couldn’t just flirt and tease with no strings attached if we both knew I had a massive crush on him.

 

“He doesn’t know.”

 

“What?”

 

“He thinks that I lied to help you two get past your angst and form Voltron.” Pidge crossed their arms, giving me a smug look. I thought back to what they had said. That Keith and I _both_ had massive crushes on _each other._

 

“And did you?” I eyed them suspiciously, and they grinned wickedly at me. The fucking gremlin.

 

“Maybe you should ask Keith about that one.”

 

“Oh, fuck you.”

 

“You two need to communicate. Sorry. The Pidgeon is done meddling. Go talk to Keith.” I squawked indignantly when they flipped me off and left.

 

“You can’t just leave me with _that_!” My anger at them had dissolved though, replaced with a fond understanding. They’d done what they;’d needed to do, or at least, what they thought they’d needed to do. And things weren’t completely broken. Not yet. Keith and I could keep fake dating and real kissing and teasing and flirting badly, no drama attached. No worrying that he knows how I’ve been pining over him for...who knows how long. (I sure don’t.)

 

I don’t think I’ve ever run as fast and recklessly as I did when I was trying to find Keith. Keith...I need to talk to him. About all of this. About everything that Pidge has said, and all of the things that have happened since I was out.

 

My legs were still a bit wobbly and my footing uncertain, thanks to prolonged time in the healing pod, but my repeated stumbles didn’t stop me. When I actually found him, (in the training room, typical) I actually slammed right into him, knocking us both to the ground. He blinked up at me, face slowly turning a dark crimson, and seeing our compromising situation, I leered at him.

  
“Hi.” As if I wasn’t practically laying on him, and hadn’t just come barreling through the hallway calling his name before launching myself into him.

  
“Uh, hey.” Keith averted his eyes, and I found myself growing smug about that fact.

 

“A little birdy, er, wait, no, a little _pigeon_ , ha, see that pun? Told me that this whole fake dating thing isn’t all that fake after all. You been hiding a crush from me, mullet?” That’s how I got a knee in my stomach and was thrown off of him, falling on my ass away from him.

 

My face heated up. “Sorry, but for real, we’ve gotta talk about this.” He crossed his arms, and I was ready for him to just say no and leave, but then suddenly a kind of resolve settled across his expression.

 

“Yeah. We do.”

 

Awkward silence settled over us. I found it in myself to clear my throat uncomfortably, before speaking up. “This whole fake dating thing has been kind of fun.” I admitted, and to my relief he nodded, a fond smile playing across his face.

 

“That time at the party? When you dragged me into a broom closet? That was...not a jerk move? I appreciated that.” He added, in return.

 

“Oh yeah! We should totally hit up Merch and thank her for that.” I recalled, thoughtful. “Are we just gonna do a confession-for-confession basis here?”

 

“Yeah, sure.” At this point we’d both sat up, facing each other, still on the training deck floor. Keith was looking a little worn out, presumably having just finished a training simulation. He was a bit sweaty, smelling like boy, and his hair was plastered to his forehead. It was a bit distracting, but I suppose we were sharing gay thoughts right now anyways.

 

“Alright.” I bit my lip, trying to think of something else to say. “I’m kind of glad I fucked up and put us in this situation. It’s been...good. To, uh, be your...friend. And stuff.” I looked up and met his eyes, gauging a reaction, but he just hummed in agreement.

  
  
“I never thought you’d be tolerable about this whole thing. Also, your lip balm tastes so fucking good.” He licked his lip just slightly as he said that, and I’m sure it was an unconscious thing, but it was probably the most attractive thing I have ever seen.

  
  
“My...my lip balm?” I blinked, suddenly digging in my sweater pocket for it. “Dude. I got it from like, the dollar store, I, fuck, where is it?” Keith’s face slowly went red, and he looked mortified.

 

“Um. Here.” He pulls it out of his pocket and hands it to me. It took a second for the realization to hit me.

  
“You stole my lip balm! Ass!” I shrieked, grabbing it. “Did you use it?” I uncapped it, examining it critically. Keith didn’t meet my gaze.

  
“Uh, yeah. Look, I just really missed the taste of your stupid mouth, okay? Blame Pidge for telling me where you keep it.” His embarrassment was palpable, and I found myself grinning.   
  
  
“Aw, that’s so cheesy. Keep it.” I pressed it back into his palm, savoring the moment of contact between my fingers and his.

 

“But-”

 

“Don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll still get to taste it often.” I dared to wink at him, and the moment of shock on his face, melting into a fond, exasperated look, was definitely worth the risk.

  
“I can’t believe you.”

  
“You’re the one who said you missed it.” I waggled my eyebrows, letting that thought sink into my ego.

 

“Oh, shut up. It’s your turn to say something.” Keith turned back into his prickly old self, and in that moment I realized that I liked this Keith too. The sharp, snide Keith. I like him just as much as I like Angry Making Out Keith or Soft Hand Holding Keith or No Homo Keith. I like _all_ of the sides of him.

 

Maybe that’s what prompted my moment of bravery. Okay, Lance, it’s time to tell him. It’s time to tell him how you feel because, really, why would we be having this conversation if you _hadn’t_ already won him over with your charm and good looks.

 

“Keith,” I started my sentence with his name, nearly choking on that alone. He frowned for a moment at my suddenly serious atmosphere. “I totally have a-”

 

Of course that’s the moment Allura decided to walk into the room, interrupting me. She looked between the two of us, sitting cross-legged on the floor in the doorway, and raised her eyebrows. “Sorry to interrupt, but we’ve been waiting on you for dinner, and Pidge says to tell you, and I quote, “I don’t care about your gayngst, get your asses down here and eyefuck some other time.”” She recited that part as if unsure of the actual meaning, and I almost snorted with laughter then, despite being thoroughly pissed off. “Hunk is equally...concerned.” I scrambled to my feet.

  
“Alrighty, then. Let’s get gooing.” I shot Keith some finger guns, before helping him to his feet despite his groan and complaint. “See what I did there?” I raised an eyebrow, smirking at my wit.

  
“Unfortunately.” He grunted, and we followed Allura back to the common area.

 

* * *

 

Thanks to that helpful distraction, I never ended up telling Keith about my giant crush on him. So I had no idea whether he wanted a relationship or what, but we had the whole robeast incident behind us and we were kissing again, frequently. Which was nice, though we were keeping it pretty friends-with-benefits. PG-13 benefits, like hand holding and making out. Honestly, I’d prefer it to sex.

 

In fact, we barely kept our hands off of each other long enough for Allura to announce that we were going to be having another meeting with the members of the Voltron Alliance, to inform them about the new robeast that would surely be finding us again soon.

 

“Nice! We get to see Merch again!” I went for a high five, but Keith totally rejected me. I sighed. “Hunk?” He gave me a sympathetic hand slap, but it wasn’t quite the same.

  
“Weren’t you supposed to be, uhhh, not flirting?” Pidge asked, peeking around from the other side of Keith.   
  
  
“You misunderstand me, Pidge! This alien chick is not only super gorgeous, but also a dear friend of mine, who happens to have gifted me with a temporary boyfriend!” I responded, incredulous.

 

“You’ve talked to her, like, twice.” Keith furrowed his eyebrows, and I waved a hand.

 

“That doesn’t matter! I make friends fast.” I pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Seriously, I’m not into her that way.” Allura raised her eyebrows.

  
“Be sure to hold up to your word on that. Remember, you and Keith need to keep up the pretense that-”

 

“We’ve got this! Don’t worry, Princess, I know what I’m doing.” I shot her finger guns, and wink, and received rolled eyes in response. I wrapped an arm around Keith’s shoulders. “Don’t we, honey bunches?” He scowled.

  
“Honey bunches?”

 

“I’m just trying to be romantic, geez.” I could’ve sworn his cheeks actually tinged pink at that, though from embarrassment or anger I really couldn’t tell.

 

“In any case,” Allura drew me back to reality. A reality that wasn’t just Keith’s flustered, pouty face. “We’ll be wormholing over there later today, so be adequately prepared for that.”

 

“I am always mega-prepared.” My finger guns reappeared, again, causing a few groans around the table.

 

* * *

 

I was not even close to being adequately prepared for what came next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dhfdhkfdhkfdh i said i was sorry ?? I dont know whether its late at night or early in the morning either way its ass oclock and im so tired of this shit i didnt edit at all and i wrote half of it with my eyes closed i relied solely on spellcheck please forgive me i'll probably edit in the morning or like tomorrow or the day after idk sometime after I sleep but an allnighter is looking likely atm so  
> yeah
> 
> im sorry readers i hate to disappioint yall bc of my personal stuff and so i tried to slam out this chapter but ive been dealing with a lot of shit and just recently came out to my mom as a trans guy and shes supprotive but she's been trying to get me to tell my dad and he'll be supportive too but its tiring and ive been really dysphoric lately and aaahhh I'll probably be okay enough to write decently sometime soon ?? my city pride is coming up this weekend and i'm going with some of my sapphic friends and ofc lances birthday is tomorrow so thatll probably be a good time
> 
> see yall next chapter ?? tho I'll probably edit the notes when I edit this chapter so maybe you'll hear from me then


	12. Angry-Flirting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What? Am I not allowed to lean against my own boyfriend?” I whipped out that last word mainly out of spite. Because I we only had the title of boyfriend when we were in public, and it kills me.
> 
> “Well, yeah, you are, but it's like... fuck, that was, uh, distracting! That was supposed to be a serious meeting, you know?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry about the infrequent updates, I just haven't found much of a drive to write lately?? I'll keep this going, I promise. I always force myself to write 2000 words a day, and usually that means approximately one chapter, but lately I've spent hours just drabbling and haven't been able to add anything to my fics. Ugh.   
> Anyways, enjoy.

Kissing Lance has always been good. It was good even before it had feeling behind it. It was good, even when it was aggressive and borderline sadistic. It still is, it’s still amazing and heart-wrenching. His lips taste just as sweet as they used to, his skin is still as soft and pliant as before. But there’s something missing.

 

I guess it’s because I’d thought I just might be able to win him over. In an emotional way, not just this weird making out for fun stuff. But it seems like that’s not what he wants? 

  
Either way, we’re stuck going to a big, important meeting with the rest of the Voltron Alliance. Lance and I had both been given very strict instructions to hold hands, but to  _ lay off on the excessive PDA.  _ I recognized some of the other aliens sitting around, all of them world leaders. Allura was doing most of the talking, and I found myself growing more and more bored by the minute. 

  
I decided to use the fact that we were in public as an excuse to rest my head on Lance’s shoulder, sleepily. Generally we weren’t really cuddly, that venturing a bit further into real relationship territory than we were willing to commit to. 

  
A couple of elderly looking octopoids crooned at us the moment I did it, and Allura paused mid-sentence to look at us. The expression on her face was enough for me to just shoot her a stealthy thumbs-up and nuzzle further against Lance. He was warm. It was comfortable. And maybe I just really like the way he smells, okay? I couldn’t really identify it, I was godawful with stuff like that, but it was some kind of deodorant, which obviously wasn’t doing it’s job because he still smelled a bit like sweat, too.

 

Not that I was complaining. I hadn’t realized how much he’d stiffened until he relaxed again, casually flinging an arm over my shoulder. I hummed just a little, contentedly. Despite the seriousness of the meeting we were in, the others couldn’t help but glance over at us every few moments. 

 

The aliens seemed firm in their resolve to help us fight the new robeast, something about “They’re so precious, so brave, we need to protect them.” I smiled into Lance’s neck. I was so tired, from the constant worrying about when the robeast would next turn up. Also, have I mentioned that this meeting was  _ really, really boring? _ Because it was.

 

We’d all been forced to sit through it as Allura droned on about the new robeast, all things we already knew, and they discussed resources and such, all with names and uses I couldn’t pronounce or understand. 

  
We were wearing our paladin armour, for appearance’s sake, so Lance wasn’t _exactly_ comfortable to lean on. His shoulder pads were cold and a little bit too smooth. Lance turned his head a little and pressed a kiss to my temple.

  
“You’re so distracting, I think I’m going to die if we’re stuck here much longer.” He hissed.

  
“Mm.” I agreed, squeezing his gloved fingers in mine. I could feel his neck and face warming with embarrassment. The feeling was palpable, sitting so close to him, but I couldn't help but fight the urge to pull away, if only to make him more flustered. 

 

Maybe it was because I was still a little pissed off at him for getting hurt and worrying me. Or maybe it was because he was keeping this who relationship so casual and noncommittal. Either way, I felt the need to be a bit more of a tease than usual. 

 

“You should be paying attention to Allura.” I murmured, scooting my chair over a bit to lean up against him further, like a cat desperate for attention. 

 

I heard him swallow, saw his throat bob with the movement. His tongue slipped out of his lips, moistening his lips nervously as he glanced over at me. 

 

“Keith, this is serious.” He hissed, averting his gaze from me very purposefully. I couldn't bring myself to  _ care _ . I didn't care that we couldn't form Voltron and were probably all in deep shit pretty soon. Or that this meeting was supposed to be about discussing battle strategies. 

 

I moved my hand away from his own and onto his thigh, caressing lightly under the table. I didn't say anything, just watched the leader that was speaking attentively, though I wasn't really taking in anything that they were saying. 

 

I couldn't tear my focus away from the way he squirmed beneath my touch, as light as it was. I noticed Allura shooting us both glares, and i gave her a casual, innocent look that I'm not sure she bought. 

 

Lance was red at this point, and shifting in his seat beside me. I spared him a brief look and found myself smirking, smug. Allura raised an eyebrow at me.  _ Shit, she noticed that.  _

 

I tried to put on my best poker face, though I'd never been any good with diplomacy. 

 

* * *

 

As soon as the meeting was over, Lance pulled me aside. “What the fuck was that?!” He hissed, still looking scuffled, and blushing like mad. 

 

“What was what?” I tilted my head, raising my eyebrows and pouting just a bit; the picture of innocence. It only took one look at his expression for it to dissolve into a shit-eating grin, though. 

 

“You know what!” I loved teasing him like this. Maybe it's because I'm an attention whore, or maybe it's because of that cute, flustered face of his. 

 

“Couldn't even hazard a guess.” He crossed his arms, scowling. 

 

“You were cuddling up to me for that whole meeting.” He accused, and I smirked, shoving my hands in my pockets. 

 

“What? Am I not allowed to lean against my own  _ boyfriend _ ?” I whipped out that last word mainly out of spite. Because I we only had the title of boyfriend when we were in public, and it kills me. 

 

“Well,  _ yeah _ , you are, but it's like... fuck, that was, uh, distracting! That was supposed to be a serious meeting, you know?” 

 

I felt almost guilty, watching him get so worked up. At this point I couldn't tell if he was mad at me or just embarrassed, but his entire face and neck were practically glowing red, and he wouldn't meet my eyes at this point. 

 

I found myself looking at my feet as I spoke, “I just. Um. I just wanted to go along with the whole, er, the fake relationship thing, since we were in public and everything. I...I won't do it again.” I found myself turning my sentences up at the ends, my uncertainty with the excuse showing through. 

 

Sure, it was perfectly reasonable. I didn't doubt that he'd buy it. After all, it was a half truth. I  _ was  _ only doing what I did because we were in public, where I could get away with it. There was something disheartening about admitting that out loud. 

 

“What? I mean, yeah. Yeah, that's. Er. No problem, just. Yeah.”

 

I blinked up at him. “Right. Okay.” 

 

“Yeah. Alright.” We both stood there together for an awkward moment longer. Then we scuffled in different directions, pretending like the whole debacle hadn't happened at all.

 

* * *

 

At times like these, I go to Shiro. He didn't seem at all surprised when I busted open his door and fell face-first onto the floor, groaning as the entrance slid shut behind me, smooth and mechanical. 

 

“What's up?” He asked, as if he didn't know. I rested my chin on a forearm, still sprawled on the floor. 

 

“Lance.” I sighed. This was definitely not the first time we'd started a conversation in this manner. 

 

“Isn't it always.” He hummed. “I thought you were convinced you'd win him over?” 

 

Right. I had been. But then Lance had shown up and we'd talked about it and agreed on being friends...rivals? Rivals with benefits. Kissing benefits, and hand holding. Of course. And I was too scared to say anything about something more. Something  _ real _ . Something more than just a nice pair of lips or a warm hand. 

 

“He doesn't like me back.” I mumbled, already knowing his inevitable response. 

 

“Did he tell you that?” 

 

“No! He didn't! But I  _ know _ . We talked it over. He wants to make out with me whenever he pleases but he doesn't actually want  _ me _ .” I rolled onto my back, linking my hands beneath my head and staring up at the ceiling.

 

Shiro frowned at me. “That doesn't sound like Lance.” I raised my eyebrows. 

 

“Doesn't it? That asshole flirts with everybody he meets. He doesn't care about emotional commitment of any of that shit.” I couldn't look Shiro in his fatherly eyes anymore, opting to turn on my side facing away from him. 

 

“I don't think that's quite true.” He said, carefully. I groaned in frustration, hating that he wouldn't just accept my word as the truth. 

 

“I didn't come here to argue, I came for consolation. Lance doesn't like me. If he did, we'd be able to form Voltron, wouldn't we?” I glared over my shoulder at him. 

 

Shiro, ever patient. It was almost annoying. “We don't know for sure what the interference in our bond is, it could just be both of your miscommunication-” he began, but I cut him off. 

 

“We weren't miscommunicating! We communicated! We talked about it. What more do you want me to do?”

 

“You could stop angry-flirting and tell him how you really feel.” He suggested, and I've never hated a rational plan more. Of course that was the optimal course of action. But it's not one that I wanted to actually take. 

 

“Are there any alternatives to that?” I asked, rhetorically. 

 

“I'm afraid not.” He looked at me pityingly. “And, er, not to go all insensitive on you, but you really better do it soon. The robeast could find us again at any moment.” He looked like it pained him to have to bring it up. 

 

My face heated up with shame. Because I couldn't just be brave, not even this once, for the sake of the entire universe. Voltron should be my number one priority, not an attempted romance with Lance. 

 

“Can't you just make me hate him or something? That would be so much easier.” Shiro sighed, giving me a fond look. 

 

“I wish I could help you, Keith. I really do.” 

 

I didn't want to get up, or go back to my room. I didn't want to go and talk to Lance about my huge, gross crush on him. 

 

“Can I stay here tonight?” I asked. Shiro tossed his blanket down to me, and sounded defeated. 

 

“Fine. But don't complain to me that you're stiff tomorrow.” 

 

We'd had this argument many times. Sleeping on the floor of Shiro's room was my (very helpful) way of coping. We were both well aware that it wasn't exactly the healthiest habit, but it had stuck with me from our foster days together, and frankly, I didn't give a shit. 

 

Shiro did, but I think he gave up on arguing with me over it. Unsurprisingly, I'm a lot more stubborn than Shiro. 

 

I pulled his blanket over my head, curling into a ball on the floor. The ship's flooring was metal panels, cold and smooth to the touch. Which was surprisingly comforting, and I managed to throw myself into unconscious before my muscles decided it wasn't fond of the hard surface. 

  
_ What the hell am I going to do? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woooooo Things Are Getting Heated(tm)  
> I have no idea when I'm going to end this fic aaaaaah I want ? To get it to 30k+ words at least ?? But I'm trying not to draw it out and I get that the pacing is super wonky right now
> 
> So  
> Sorry about that  
> Leaves comments and kudos if you enjoyed? Tbh I could really use the validation on this rn, so like, if you want updates to come quicker ?? You gotta comment ???


	13. Yeet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was all stupid and quite frankly, disappointingly unpoetic. “How are you so cold, yet you sweat so goddamn much. I don’t understand.” I added, laughing wetly. It was almost freeing, talking about Keith aloud with nobody there to hear. “Seriously, grabbing your hand is like touching a half-thawed liver, it’s disgusting. Clammy, even. Why do you even wear gloves if your hands are going to be cold anyways? And why the hell do I not mind holding them for long periods of time?
> 
> “You’re so beautiful, Keith. Just fuck me right up.” I mumbled into the pillow, before sighing and putting it back onto his bed. “I’d love to tell you all about it sometime.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've been really struggling with this fic, and I spent the longest time trying to decide how I was going to write this to make things work  
> like there was a draft in there where I deadass killed the entire team and called it the end of the fic  
> So, I've figured things out and this chapter is my longest one yet, I think? Anyways, yeah, I'll try to update more, but just know that there still might be some plot holes/awkward pacing/mistakes coming up ?? Because I started this without a plan and don't know what I'm doing help
> 
> I started editing this and then said fuck it im too tired so enjoy

“Look, fuck, Keith, I need to talk to you.” I burst into Keith’s room, still talking. “You know how earlier I told you not to lean on me or shit during meetings anymore? I didn’t mean it, that was...fuck.” I trailed off and cursed when I realized that his room was empty. Then, to my own surprise, I found myself tearing up. 

  
“Fuck, Keith. Where are you? What are you even  _ doing?  _ This is important.” I mumbled to myself, breath hitching and voice cracking ever so slightly. I found myself curling up on his floor, biting my lip and grabbing his pillow, hugging it to my chest. I wanted it to smell like him or some shit, but it didn’t. It was just a pillow. The knife underneath was cold and dead and reminded me of Keith even more. 

 

I didn’t even care about when Keith would get back at this point, just pressed my face into the cool cloth and began speaking. “Fuck, man, I really like you. I love how you wear your shoes in bed like a heathen, and how you keep that goddamn knife under your pillow like some paranoid loser. I love that your hair's a mess and fluffs out around your neck, as if the mullet wasn’t bad enough already,” I sniffled, not bothering to rub away the damp lines making their way down my face.

 

“I love how you, h-how you just run into things and, and get your-yourself hurt all the time, even though it wo-worries me so fucking much. How your face goes all red when you’re angry, and how you have awful acne under those stupid bangs of yours.” I rambled, stumbling blindly over my words, squinting my eyes closed before blinking a couple times fast. 

  
His room was so impersonal. He didn’t seem to have anything that was his in here. I probably could walk into any of the extra rooms in the castle and they’d look the same. I was desperately searching for something romantic to say, but there was nothing. “And your hand is always cold. Seriously, why the fuck are you so cold? Do you need a fucking blanket? Maybe a jacket that actually covers your fucking torso?” I lamented at nobody. I didn’t even like the good things about Keith.

 

It was all stupid and quite frankly, disappointingly unpoetic. “How are you so cold, yet you sweat so goddamn much. I don’t understand.” I added, laughing wetly. It was almost freeing, talking about Keith aloud with nobody there to hear. “Seriously, grabbing your hand is like touching a half-thawed liver, it’s disgusting.  _ Clammy,  _ even. Why do you even wear gloves if your hands are going to be cold anyways? And why the  _ hell  _ do I not mind holding them for long periods of time?

 

“You’re so beautiful, Keith. Just fuck me right up.” I mumbled into the pillow, before sighing and putting it back onto his bed. “I’d love to tell you all about it sometime.” 

 

And with that, I straightened, dusted myself off, and left his room, face still blotched red from crying, sinuses still a little congested, and heart feeling a whole lot heavier than it had before. I hurried back to my own bedroom, not ready to encounter any of my teammates, and to my luck, I didn’t. Though, Keith and I had rooms right next to each other, it’s not like that’s any miracle.    
  
I was grateful, either way. I haven’t been known for having the best luck, in the past. I deposited myself onto my bed in a slump, still wearing my clothes from the day. I didn’t feel up to skincare or changing or any of my usual nighttime routine. 

  
I just wanted to sleep, and hope that tomorrow would be easier. At least I’d gotten some of it off my chest. Maybe I could talk to Hunk about it tomorrow. Or Coran? Pidge? Even Allura or Shiro might be options. I wanted to talk about him, about how stupidly in love I’d fallen. About how seeing him leaned onto my shoulder and snuggled against my neck had my heart racing and butterflies swarming in my stomach. 

 

I’d started to realize that maybe this was leaving crush territory. That a crush was loving his lips on mine, but love, legitimate admiration and affection for someone; that was different. Love is when you can see some gross person who’s really not your type and think that maybe you want to hold their stupid, edgy hands. 

 

But not just hand-holding. I think it’s more than just a crush, because I also want to just give him a hug and tell him he’s amazing, and I want to cuddle with him when he’s sad. I sighed, rolling over and pulling my blankets up to my nose. I flipped my pillow to the cool side, pressing my eyes shut a little bit more firmly than before.

 

_ Stop evaluating your feelings, just admit you’re in love and sleep.  _ I told myself, sternly. That’s what I am. In love. Hopelessly, desperately in love with Keith Kogane, also known as my fake boyfriend. This made things...a lot more difficult, but also a lot simpler. Difficult, because now I’m starting to realize that if I tell him and he rejects me, I’m probably going to die. But also so, so much simpler, because it’s all starting to make sense. 

  
Everything I’ve done, this entire time, is coming into perspective. I’ve done  _ everything  _ because I  _ love  _ him. Somehow, it just feels like the universe is a bit lighter now. The emptiness between planets and galaxies a little more vast, but in a comforting way. Like some of the matter in the universe just disappeared, and left everything just a little bit smaller. In a comforting, close kind of way. The stakes may be higher than I expected, but at least I know. At least I’ve finally figured it out. Finally _ , finally.  _

 

_. _

 

Seeing Keith the next day was like taking off a pair of cheap sunglasses. It was a little brighter, and a bit clearer, and instead of dread and desire to please, I just felt a warm, comfortable hum in my chest. 

 

I should probably tell him. Only, something about the fact that he  _ doesn't know  _ is appealing. He doesn't realize that there's someone, that there are  _ people  _ in the room with him that are more than a little in love with him. 

 

We held hands under the table, as per normal,and the normal buzzing hypersensitivity that came with it was gone. 

 

“We're going to be doing more bonding exercises today. We need to be able to form Voltron when the robeast comes back. It's only a matter of days before they find us again.” Allura was saying, and Keith was watching her attentively, though a blush creeped up his neck when I squeezed his hand, and I couldn't help but grin dopily. 

 

We all agreed, finishing our breakfasts quickly. As we exited the room, Hunk fell into step beside me. “You're ridiculous.” 

 

“What?” 

 

“Dude, the way you look at Keith. You're in so deep, man.” 

 

I think I actually let out a giggle, like a little girl. “I know.” 

 

Hunk raised his eyebrows, and I felt my face heat up just a little. “Really! I've figured it out. I'm at peace with my demons. My loving-Keith’s-flat-ass demons.” 

 

“Okay, I don't need the details.” He joked, elbowing me in the side. “But I'm happy for you. You've really seemed to lighten up.” 

 

I met his eyes, and the genuine warmth and pride in them surprised me just a little. I found myself copying his fond smile, suddenly very grateful for his friendship. 

 

“Thanks. I really think we'll be able to form Voltron now. I'm sorry I didn't get my shit together sooner.” 

 

“Hey, it's not all you. Keith's still a mess too, and Pidge had a phase in there as well.” He acknowledged. “To be honest, I think the only one who's guilt-free in this is Shiro.”

 

“Thanks, buddy.” I grinned, our conversation fading out as we entered the training room. It was going to be a fairly basic exercise, one of the first ones we'd done; a mind meld. Basically, it was a test to see if we could form Voltron, without actually busting out the Lions themselves. 

 

“We're going to be doing this quickly every day from now on, so we're aware of our status when it comes to forming Voltron.” Allura explained, as we all sat in a circle and started fumbling to put our headgear on. 

 

The moment I put the headgear on, I could feel it. A cold, steely sensation in the back of my mind. Who was that? I tried to sort out the feelings overriding my head to no real avail. 

 

There was a warm overtone to it all, but I could still feel that  _ strange  _ emotion. It was cold, like rolling over in bed and hitting the wall. There was something nagging at the side of my mind, too, and I could feel that at least two of the others were worrying incessantly. 

 

“Guys, calm down, yeesh.” I said, after I'd adjusted to the overload of sensations in my.head. A wave of annoyance hit me in response. “Fine, fine. Be broody. See if I care.” Hunk and I were the first ones to get out Lions appearing in front of us, surprisingly. I wanted to risk a glance at the images in front of the others, but decided it would breach my focus too much. 

 

_ Come on, Blue. You've got this.  _ I urged the little hologram forward.  _ Voltron. Voltron. Voltron.  _

 

It was met in the middle by Hunk's lion, and then Shiro's joined. Then Pidge, and…

 

“Keith! Get focused!” Shiro scolded. The connection broke, and Keith took off the headgear, crossing his arms and pouting angrily. 

 

“It’s not working.” He complained, and I winced in sympathy for him. Pidge spoke up quickly. 

 

“Maybe we should take a break from the mind meld.” They offered, taking off their own headset. “We can fight the gladiator or something and come back to it after we're in the right mindset.” 

 

I'd known Pidge and Keith had developed some kind of bromance while I was in the healing pod, but I was surprised by the notion nonetheless. Pidge hated the combat simulators, generally opting to be the brains as opposed to the brawns in any mission. 

 

I smiled fondly at them both for a moment, feeling content that they were looking out for each other. 

 

“That sounds like a good idea.” I chimed in, and Hunk nodded his own agreement. 

 

“Fine. But I expect you to be working your hardest,  _ as a team. _ ” Allura emphasized, sounding like she wanted to argue but was deciding against it. 

 

We ended up fighting well, though I was getting increasingly worried about Keith, suddenly realizing that he was stumbling more than usual, fighting a little less smooth. 

 

He seemed frustrated with himself, too, and I saw Shiro talking to him after a particularly nasty failed session. I heaved in a breath from my position flat on the ground, sitting up and feeling dizzy. 

 

Pidge groaned next to me. “Do you think Keith's up for mind-melding again?” They asked, rubbing their head and looking just as battered as I was feeling. 

 

Hunk sighed beside us. “As much as I'd love to say yes, and that we should stop getting our butts kicked and try forming Voltron again, he's totally not going to be able to do it.” 

 

I frowned at a newly discovered bruise spanning my entire forearm. “Then I guess we're going to have to try this again.” I admitted. 

 

“The things we do for that idiot.” Pidge grumbled fondly, getting to wobbly feet. 

 

“Maybe it's time we stopped with the gladiator and went back to-” Shiro began, looking at our bedraggled state. 

 

“No.” We all spoke in unison, sounding very unenthusiastic. 

 

“We're trying the gladiator again.” Pidge clarified, leaning on me for support. 

 

The relief on Keith's face was worth the beating, especially when it warped into a smug smile when Shiro looked back at him.

 

Shiro sighed, admitting defeat. “Maybe we'd be better off just wrapping up for today.” He said, looking over at Keith with concern obvious in his eyes. “I know you guys are all putting off the mind-meld. Try and get your...your current issues sorted out before tomorrow.” He looked so tired, I felt a little sorry for him.  

 

“Allura? We're calling it quits for today. They all worked really hard, in fact,” he glanced over at Keith, then Pidge, Hunk, and I, “We might want to prep the cryopods for some quick overnight healing?” 

 

I sighed with relief, and Pidge seemed to relax into the way they leaned against my shoulder. 

 

“Oh, thank god.” Hunk muttered, under his breath, and I had to say I agreed. We didn't often use the cryopods for things like training injuries, tending to tough it out, but when we did it was like heaven. Not just because of the evaded soreness, but they also meant for a really good night's sleep, and cured acne for some reason. 

 

Keith cautiously approached us as Allura confirmed Shiro's request and shut down the training room, looking nervous. 

 

“Er, thanks guys. I'll be good for forming Voltron tomorrow, I promise.” He mumbled, not meeting any of our eyes. Hunk clapped him on the back, sending both of them flinching just a bit. 

 

“Any time, my man.” He responded, and Pidge gave him a tired thumbs up. 

 

“Yeah. No big deal, shorty.” 

 

He raised an eyebrow at them, before the seriousness of his expression dropped and he actually let out a small scoff. “Yeah right, gremlin.” He actually ruffled their hair, and they stuck their tongue out at him. I blinked, looking between the two. 

 

Well that was new. Keith then turned his attention to me. We met eyes, and stared at each other for a moment, blinking.

 

As much as I love the guy, especially his lips, I really did not want to kiss him while he's literally dripping sweat. That being said, I'm not much better. It wasn't ridiculous to assume that he'd go in for one, seeing as that's been pretty much our only interaction lately.

 

“Yeah, no.” 

 

“Not right now.” 

 

We both voiced the mutual thought at the same time, before cracking up. Which was nice. It was nice laughing with Keith. Talking to him seemed softer, easier than it had before. Like the electricity and tension in my gut I used to feel was gone, replaced simply by fond enjoyment of his presence. 

 

Pidge scoffed. “You two are disgusting.” 

 

“Fuck off, Pidgeon.” I flicked them on the ear, causing them to wince and then glare at me. “In any case, I'm hitting the showers, and then we have to go through those terrible Altean movies Hunk found the other day. I'm picturing Bollywood, but worse. It'll be good.” I suggested, and Hunk nodded in agreement. 

 

“I found an old translation device, but from what I've seen it's super awful at it. I'm thinking I can spice up some food goo and we could watch terrible Altean classics as paladin bonding time. It can be a thing.” 

 

Keith looked like he was about to object, but Pidge swung an arm around his shoulders. “Don't you dare. Paladin movie time is a non-negotiable bonding exercise.” Keith scowled at them, pushing them away. 

 

“Fine, sure.” He agreed, and I pumped my fist in the air. 

 

“Yeet! Now that you've actually agreed, cuddling is also non-negotiable.” I added, giving him a sly look and watching the way he turned pink and rolled his eyes. 

 

“I have a knife.” He threatened, but there was no force behind it. “Don't tempt me to use it.” 

 

“This is Lance we're talking about. He's always tempting to stab.” Pidge objected, to my dismay. 

 

“Betrayal!” I shrieked, but they just shrugged. I couldn't help but feel content. My friends, and Keith, and we were all getting along and talking like normal teenagers for once. I was starting to realize that even if Keith didn't reciprocate my feelings, I'd be happy just the way we are now. Just being near him is enough. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, kudos and comments are very much appreciated!! Y'all are my lifeblood, thank you so much for reading.


	14. Keith's Cute Forehead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It seemed we’d all made the unconscious decision to wear our Lion slippers, which was almost embarrassing, but also endearing. In a platonic way. Matching slippers were, I had to admit, kind of cute, especially when we were about to huddle together and watch awful Altean dramas together. As much as I missed Earth, space seemed a bit less lonely when times like these arose.
> 
> Allura had busted out what was apparently the Altean equivalent of potato chips, and we were all eyeing them suspiciously when Lance came in, skin slightly damp and practically glowing.
> 
> “I brought face masks,” He mentions, waving one enticingly in front of Allura and grinning. “Are we going to let the bonding exercise,” He winked at her, and I felt something in my stomach flip. “Begin?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An actual update? How did that happen ????? 
> 
> Also it's my birthday today so be happy abt that ;)  
> Enjoy this chapter its literally just fluff asdhjsdghasdj

Talking to Lance often feels like there's a cloud in the room, making everything a lot more humid and uncomfortable and a bit fuzzy around the edges. Every conversation feels like I’m fumbling through it in a painfully awkward fashion. 

 

I can’t help but be distracted by him all through training. The mind meld had been awful, and the harder I tried  _ not  _ to think about my huge, gay crush on Lance, the more prominent it was. Though, I didn’t  _ think  _ he’d noticed the image of himself floating in front of my face, despite the fact that it felt as though there were neon signs pointing to it. 

 

Still, he had been pretty focused. I almost felt bad, being the only one who was keeping us from forming Voltron just because I couldn’t get my own pining sorted out. Lance didn't seem to be nearly as distracted as I was about this whole situation. 

 

I was grateful when Pidge diffused the situation, even more so when Shiro convinced Allura to cancel the remainder of the day's training and let us use the cryopods for the night. 

 

I was...less enthused about the prospect of cuddling with the others and watching Altean films, but I doubted I'd be able to get out of it. 

 

I resolved that I’d just have to zone out, take a shower, and deal with Lance when I wasn’t covered in a layer of sweat and fresh bruises. 

 

We parted ways, opting that any cuddling would have to happen when they weren’t still half-dead from the day’s intense training.

 

Stepping under a spray of hot water has never felt so good, and my aching muscles relaxed against the welcome presence. I discovered no shortage of scrapes and minor injuries from the gladiator, and felt so, so glad I’d get to spend a night in that cryopod. Lance always claimed that they cured his acne, but mine always stayed, or reappeared by the next morning anyways, so I suspect it’s more about his own hygiene than the pods themselves.

 

Those things are great on sore muscles, though. It’s like getting a thorough full-body massage, but you don’t even have to be conscious for the painful parts. I’ll be the first to admit that I more than abuse my body with my training, so I’m always grateful for an excuse to give it a break.

 

Truth be told, Coran helped me sneak into them for overnighters more often than my fellow paladins will ever need to know about, after realizing my predicament. I ended up taking my time washing my hair, feeling particularly gross after a tough day, or at least too gross to cuddle with. 

 

Sighing as I left the warm water behind me, I just tugged on comfortable clothes and kept my hair disheveled under a towel so I could go and meet the others. I spared a glance at the Red Lion slippers on my floor, before making the spontaneous decision to wear them. They were comfortable, but I felt like an idiot walking around in them. 

  
Pidge was the first one I saw, wearing their own Lion slippers and cuddling a giant blanket, sporting impressively mussed-up hair. 

  
“Lance is still showering, and he’s probably going to bring like, twenty face masks. He treats movie nights like a teenage girl’s slumber party. Just warning you now.” I laughed nervously, knowing that it was probably going to be an accurate description. “Hunk, Allura, and Shiro are already there, trying to get the movie set up.” 

 

I nodded, and we walked the rest of the distance in comfortable silence. By the time we got there, it seemed they’d uploaded the movie to a main menu, and Hunk was managing to hook up some translator that didn’t look nearly as new or high-tech as the rest of the castle. 

 

“We’ve almost got it. Is Lance coming?” Shiro asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

  
“Yeah, but you know how he is. He’ll probably be late, doing some unnecessarily elaborate skincare treatment. Or something.” They both met gazes before rolling their eyes and huffing fondly, almost completely in sync. I couldn’t fight a tiny giggle from escaping me.

  
That’s always been a problem. I try so hard not to openly laugh at things that when I just can’t help it, it comes out a giggle, or a snort, or a mixture of both. Both things which I really didn’t want sullying my reputation. 

 

Pidge had gone to help Hunk tinker with the Altean technology, Allura and Coran dragging what looked like fluffy comforters into the room, and Shiro and I were left standing around awkwardly, unsure what we were supposed to do to help. 

 

It seemed we’d all made the unconscious decision to wear our Lion slippers, which was almost embarrassing, but also endearing. In a platonic way. Matching slippers were, I had to admit, kind of cute, especially when we were about to huddle together and watch awful Altean dramas together. As much as I missed Earth, space seemed a bit less lonely when times like these arose. 

 

Allura had busted out what was apparently the Altean equivalent of potato chips, and we were all eyeing them suspiciously when Lance came in, skin slightly damp and practically glowing. 

  
“I brought face masks,” He mentions, waving one enticingly in front of Allura and grinning. “Are we going to let the bonding exercise,” He winked at her, and I felt something in my stomach flip. “Begin?”  

 

It wasn’t long before they started the movie, which was just as bad as expected. The graphics and video quality was amazing, but it was following a plot that none of us could quite pinpoint. I was the only one that didn’t have some kind of weird paste smothering my face at this point, and we’d all huddled in a pile of strangely shaped Altean pillows and limbs. That’s when Lance crawled over to where I was. I shifted away when I saw the glint in his eye, but he slid up next to me and whipped out his last face mask, shoving it towards me.    
  
“We all have them!” He insisted. “Besides, I know you have awful acne under that hair of yours.” He teased, pushing my bangs up out of my eyes, exposing my pale (and acne-riddled) forehead. I blinked at him, and he stared at me for a moment, looking stricken. 

 

“Uh. Fine.” I said, a bit too quickly. The others were giving me knowing looks, and my face heated up as he opened the package and frowned in careful concentration.

  
“Allura, toss me a headband.” He reached behind one and received what he was asking for, placing it around my hairline and pushing my bangs back against my head. I felt exposed, for some reason, and turned absolutely crimson when Hunk looked over and let out a tiny squeal.    
  
“Keith, you look so cute like that!” He gushed, and I looked away, my shoulders rising self consciously as the rest of the team turned their attention away from the movie and towards my fully-revealed face. 

 

Pidge and Allura affirmed Hunk’s sentiment, and Lance had gone uncharacteristically silent, but he was staring at me with a glassy look and a fond smile. Suddenly he seemed to pull his gaze back into focus, grinning widely. “Right, okay cutie, come on, face me, I’ve got to apply this motherfucker. Prepare to have skin as supple and smooth as mine.” He babbled, carefully smoothing the weird goo over my face. I was pretty sure my face would catch fire if it were to get any warmer. They call me the red paladin for a reason. (Spoiler alert: It’s because I’m really gay.)

  
I wrinkled my nose. “It’s cold.” I mumbled, and the rapid-fire Altean being yelled from the screen behind me nearly drowned it out. Lance seemed to be close enough to hear though, letting out an easy, breathy laugh and telling me to stop moving my face so much. 

 

Not more than a minute later, he pulled away, grinning triumphantly.”Perfect!” He scooted up next to me, immediately relaxing and laying with his hands linked behind his neck, elbows in the air. 

 

I leaned against him as much as I could, without ruining the mask, just as the main character (I think) started screaming again at another character who I only vaguely recognized. Lance was warm and soft and supple, especially with his fancy Altean pajamas.

 

I wasn’t even awake enough to be embarrassed, the only coherent thoughts in my mind being  _ soft _ and  _ warm _ and  _ Lance. _

 

* * *

I hadn’t realized I’d drifted off in Lance’s arms until I was waking up, still in his arms. “What?” I asked, after falling out of a healing pod and onto him. 

 

He looked so fond, I could hardly stand it. Like looking at me was the most amazing thing in the world. “You dozed off like, halfway through the movie. We were promised pod time tonight, remember?”

 

I blinked, hazy memories of the day before coming back. “Oh. Right.” I was still clutching to Lance for balance, so I stepped away and stretched. I felt rejuvenated, and calmer than I usually was around Lance. It was nice, feeling (for some reason) more comfortable around him. I realized I’d had more than one bonding moment with him the day before, most of which didn’t involve anything remotely romantic. 

 

Which was a side of Lance I’d missed, quite frankly. We stood in silence for a moment, as if both of us were trying to build enough courage to say something more. 

 

“I like you as a friend.” Lance said, suddenly, breaking the silence. I...what? Was he rejecting me, before I’d even said anything? The fucking mind-reader, how the hell? That’s when he kept talking; rambling, even. “Like, don’t get me wrong, I uh, I love this whole, face-sucking part. I like that. But I’m into being your friend outside of that. Instead of rivals or teammates or whatever we were.” He explained, and I blinked at him in confusion before it dawned on me.

  
“You mean, you like, actually...like my personality?” I asked, raising an eyebrow disbelievingly. Lance scratched the back of his neck, looking away and turning pink. Cute. 

 

“Yeah, unfortunately.” He responded, side-eyeing me sheepishly. 

  
“I like your personality too.” I remarked, my turn to stare at the floor and blush like a teenage girl with a crush. 

  
“For real?” 

 

“Yeah.” We met eyes again, and at that point there was nothing either of us could do to stop ourselves from leaning in for a celebratory makeout session. Between people who’d just moved from teammates who kissed a lot to friends who kissed a lot. An improvement that felt surprisingly good. 

 

His mouth was even hotter than I remember, probably because I’d just been frozen, but I’d love to imagine it was because of our change in dynamic. It started slow, mouths opened just slightly, sucking gently at each other’s lips. I thought back to the lip balm in my pocket.  _ I’m the one that tastes good this time. _ I thought, albeit a bit smugly. 

 

He made a small, deep noise into my mouth, and my shoulders relaxed as I leaned forward into the kiss, any tension in my body dissipating immediately. My hands found his shoulder blades, and I held his back softly, running my hands along his edges. 

 

We pulled apart slowly, retaining eye contact for a period of time that should’ve been awkward, but wasn’t. It took me a bit too long to close my mouth fully, breathing shallow. 

 

“That was…” I began, trailing off. 

  
  
“Good. That was really good.” Lance finished, and we both sighed relief at the same time, before bursting into a fit of laughter. 

 

“Yep, excellent platonic makeout session. Amazing, even.” I joked, which had us both doubled over with tears pricking the corners of our eyes, for some reason.

 

“Alright, come on. Let’s go form Voltron or something. The team’s gonna be so impressed.” He suggested, composing himself and suddenly sounding genuinely excited. I nodded, matching his grin with my own. 

 

“Yeah, let’s get this show on the road.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what are boyfriends if not "friends you kiss sometimes" like honestly ?


	15. Ft. Greasy Bird Goblins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Shut up, gremlin!” Maybe it was Voltron’s bond connecting our thoughts, but Keith and I both scolded them in unison. 
> 
> “We're just guys being guys.” I added. 
> 
> “Just dudes being dudes.” Keith confirmed, voice scratchy and a bit cracked with embarrassment. Again, I felt a soft smile grace my features at the sound of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ITS BEEN FOREVER SINCE IVE UPDATED IM SORRY  
> real life has been kicking my ass lmao  
> also i wrote half of this at 2am while listening to whats new pussycat on repeat so jot that down before u read this trash heap of an update  
> i'm thinking of wrapping this up in a few chapters ?? maybe we'll make it to 20 chapters but idk man shit happens

Allura started off our day's training as she'd promised, with a mind meld. Keith and I were both giddy with excitement and determination when we pulled on the headgear, grinning at each other. 

 

The moment it connected, an image that was literally just a zoom-in on Keith's mouth flickered in front of me, and I felt my ears turning red. Glancing around, Shiro had an image of Keith and I (albeit a less sensual one) in front of him, Pidge's was an image of Keith and I arguing, and Hunk had...what looked to be the Blue Lion, drifting through space while the rest of Voltron started falling apart beside it. I risked a glance at Keith, and felt a tinge of relief and smugness when I realized he was thinking about what looked to be just...my hands. 

 

Well, I wasn't about to judge. We all slowly made eye contact with one another before bursting out laughing. 

 

“Why are y’all so obsessed with me?” Keith asked, around giggles. (Which were, may I add,  _ adorable. _ ) 

 

“Oh my god.  _ Keith.  _ Did you just say  _ y'all? _ ” I wheezed. He blinked, giving me a confused look.

 

“Uh, yeah. Like, 'you all’? Because everyone's mental image was, er, us-” he began to explain, looking even more confused the harder I laughed. 

 

Suddenly my headset jolted, like I was being startled awake, and I sat up straight. The images in front of us (which had all changed to various shots of the faces of our teammates) flickered out, and suddenly it felt as though a hook in my chest tugged me forward, taking my breath away. 

 

Holograms of our Lions appeared in front of us and zapped forward to the center of our circle, faster than I thought they could go, and in under a second they'd combined and formed Voltron. 

 

I stared at it in shock for a moment, before ripping off my helmet and leaping to my feet, whooping. “We did it! We formed Voltron!”I exclaimed, excited. 

 

The moment Pidge was standing up, I wrapped my arms around them and lifted them into a hug, twirling them around in a circle as they shrieked protest. When I placed their feet back on the ground, everyone else had also gotten to their feet and looked triumphant. 

 

Allura looked over at us fondly, stepping towards our circle as we exchanged fist bumps and high fives. 

 

“Well done, paladins. I was starting to get worried.” She congratulated. 

 

“Let's go get to our Lions!” Pidge urged, and Keith took that moment to make it a race and start running, which had the rest of us running after him, and it wasn't very long before we were all sliding into our Lions’ cockpits at full speed, panting and wheezing. 

 

It was unclear who had gotten to their Lion first, but at this point I didn't really care, letting Blue burst out of the hangar with vim and vigor. 

 

Our Lions circled each other for a while, tails swishing with anticipation. It was obvious that they were picking up on our own excitement and relief, and I'm sure they were feeling lonely, having not formed Voltron since the time they'd been forced apart. 

 

Blue in particular seemed to be rearing to go. I couldn't blame her, she hadn't been out since her recent repairs, which from what I'd heard were pretty drastic. 

 

“Okay team, let's form Voltron!” Shiro announced, and my heartbeat leapt up into my throat as the tugging sensation caught a hold of me and my Lion, drawing is both closer to the others. 

 

Slowly, the others’ consciousnesses filed into my head, sliding neatly into place and filling up space I hadn't been fully aware was there in the first place. It was a welcome, warm presence, much unlike the last time we'd tried. 

 

I waited for one of us to stop, to botch it and cease the process, but no one did. Blue clicked into place as the right leg of Voltron, and I heard Pidge heave a sigh of relief through the coms. 

 

“We did it.” Hunk pointed out, sounding breathless with relief. 

 

“I wonder what happened?” Pidge speculated, sounding too suggestive for my liking. I opened my mouth to say something, but Shiro cut me short. 

 

“It's none of our business. Keith, Lance, I'm glad you've sorted this out. We're proud of you.” He said, and I felt my chest fill up with the warmth of pride. I wasn't about to lie, being praised was always a high honor in my books, especially from Shiro, and I wasn't about to take it lightly, letting it slide directly into my ego. 

 

Pidge started laughing, I could feel their amusement rubbing against my own thought process. “Oh my god, Lance, was that your ego? You guys felt that too, right?” 

 

“Dude, that went straight to your head.” Hunk agreed, and I flushed.

 

“Shut up! Shiro's pride is not something I earn often!” I objected. I heard Keith chuckle softly, and stored that particular sound in my memory for later. 

 

“That's not true.” I could practically hear a frown in Shiro's voice, and groaned. 

 

Suddenly I was hit with a wave of emotion that wasn't my own. Fondness.  _ Was that from Shiro? Keith, maybe?  _ I wondered, scrunching up my nose with thought. Shiro had sounded fond, sure, but not  _ that much _ . 

 

Was it Keith? Because I sure hoped so. I felt my own feelings bubbling up and resonating out to the others, too. Just a gentle, loving admiration.

 

Pidge gagged into their mic. “You guys are so in love, it's gross. I feel like I'm not supposed to be seeing...er, feeling this.” They commented, and a wave of embarrassment cut the tender feeling short. 

 

“Shut up, gremlin!” Maybe it was Voltron’s bond connecting our thoughts, but Keith and I both scolded them in unison. 

 

“We're just guys being guys.” I added. 

 

“Just dudes being dudes.” Keith confirmed, voice scratchy and a bit cracked with embarrassment. Again, I felt a soft smile grace my features at the sound of it, and felt the warmth I was feeling seep into the others’ minds.

 

“Ewww…” Hunk commented, and Shiro heaved a deep sigh. 

 

“It's good to see you two...getting along.” He said, sounding tired. “Let's separate and come up with a gameplan, now that we can form Voltron again.”

 

.

 

Our gameplan ended up being “practice, teamwork, and try our very best.” But at least we had good news to report back to the Voltron Alliance. We were going to be wormholing back to Fruschon, which had been deemed our meetings planet, the next day, to account for all of our allies’ fighters, as well as any information they had about what the Galra had been doing. 

 

It was all very exciting, earning Keith’s friendship and then preparing to kick some Galra ass. It had been so long since we’d had any kind of battle, aside from the one where we got our asses handed to us by the new robeast. 

 

Maybe that’s what started all this tension in the first place. Our bond is always stronger after a good Galra smack-down. Perhaps that was even why the Galra held off so long. To cause some interpersonal conflict among us. I wouldn’t put it past them. And it had worked, intentional or not. 

 

In any case, we literally had  _ another  _ day to relax and hang out, which was super chill. I nudged Keith when we got out of our hangars. “Back to dating for the Fruschons today, huh?” I commented, raising an eyebrow at him. His cheeks tinged pink, and he breathed a small, nervous laugh under his breath.

 

“Yep.” He popped the “p”, and I swear my face went impossibly red, because I’m smitten. He gave me a small, but toothy, grin. 

 

“Wanna kiss?” I asked, because I can’t stop staring at his mouth (it looks like he really has been using my lip balm, they aren’t as chapped as before and look absolutely heavenly.) Because the fact that I  _ can  _ ask and get a yes sends waves of contentment coursing through me.    
  
“Any time,” He responded, leaning in closer to me. My breath caught as he pressed his lips just barely against mine and whispered, “No homo.” 

 

And then I was seeing stars, because he pressed fully against me and things were definitely getting at least a bit homo. His lips  _ were  _ softer, but he was also a really wet kisser. For real, it might’ve ruined it if it had been literally anyone but Keith. Then again, I couldn’t blame him, because I had the driest mouth (talking to your crush can do that) and I’d had my  _ lip balm stolen nearly a week ago.  _ So the added moisture wasn’t a problem. 

  
My hands met his hips and I pulled him closer to me, holding him in place as my tongue went to graze his lips and ask permission to enter. It was like when you knock on a cracked-open door and accidentally push it open in the process, though. He was already opening his mouth and bringing his forearms to rest loosely on my shoulders. 

 

Kissing Keith is a new experience, every time, but it comes as naturally to me as anything. It blows my damn mind every time. Then he pulls apart, and we’ve both got spit-smeared lips and giddy smiles. I hear an exaggerated gag from off the the side, and there’s Pidge and Hunk.

  
Pidge appears to be wearing a t-shirt with a picture of...Keith and I...kissing. “Get some, shorty!” They cheered, and Hunk just shrugs and looks defeated. I realize he’s wearing the shirt too, in yellow. “Also, we made the merch.” They tacked on, pulling a dramatic model-pose. 

 

Keith didn’t look nearly as surprised as he should’ve. “No way, you’re already finished editing that?” He stopped embracing me and jogged over to the others, examining the image. “Looking fantastic, dude.” He said, appraisingly. 

 

I trailed after him, slower. “What? When did you…?” That’s when I got a better look at the picture. “You  _ took pictures?! _ ” I shrieked, recalling the party where I’d first kissed Keith. I did remember Pidge was there, but I hadn’t noticed her at all. That being said, I had been a bit distracted at the time. “ _ And you put them on shirts?! _ ” 

 

They shrugged. “The Fruschons are gonna love them, don’t even try to convince me they won’t. Also Keith, here’s the original.” They handed him an extremely blurry photo.

 

“Thanks.” He took it and pocketed it. I stared between the two of them. 

 

“Wait, you were in on this too? Betrayal! How come nobody told me?” I asked, voice rising in pitch and face bright red. 

 

“Don’t worry my guy, I made you one too. In blue, nonetheless.” They tossed a ball of fabric at me, and I fumbled to catch it as it unfurled midair. 

 

I wanted to be indignant, and opened my mouth to say as such, but then realized that I really wasn’t. Also, the fabric was super soft. I had no idea where they got it. Probably Altean stuff. I fixed my gaze on the floor, knowing my ears were heating up with embarrassment and shrugging the shirt on over my regular clothes. 

 

“You win this round, gremlin.” 

 

“I win every round, you fucking beanpole.” 

 

“Language!” I chastised, and they rolled their eyes at me. 

 

“Whatevs, Hunk and I are gonna go do nerd stuff. Find a  _ private  _ spot if you’re going to bang, though.  _ Please. _ ”

 

“We are  _ not  _ going to...Keith and I...me and Keith are  _ just friends,  _ Pigeon. Shut up.” I squawked, always the best at being flustered. Keith didn’t respond, but he rolled his eyes and swatted at Pidge angrily. 

 

They ended up having fast enough reflexes to turn it into a high five. 

 

“Okay, see  _ y’all  _ later.” They gave us a peace sign and ran out, followed by a tired looking Hunk.    
  
“Sorry.” He said simply, exiting behind our greasy bird goblin of a friend. Keith and I exchanged one red-faced look, and then burst out laughing. There were actual tears streaming from my eyes. 

 

“What the fuck. What the fuck?” I said, clutching my stomach. We were both wearing graphic tees with  _ our own damn selves making out on the front _ , mine in blue and his in red. And we’d just finished making out. No homo, though. Only bromo. Best buds. Maybe it was about time we got our feelings sorted out, like, for  _ real. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> nice


	16. Space Ranger Partners

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I didn't even want anything new, just the official label on it. The go-ahead to call him my boyfriend.
> 
> Just that thought had my ears and cheeks turning red, like the hopelessly in-love loser I am.
> 
> Tomorrow morning, I'd ask him. That's what I'd do. For the pilot of the fastest Lion, I really was drawing things out, wasn't I?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I ended up on a whim deciding to wrap this up here ??[to the tune of its the final countdown] ITS THE FINAL CHAPTER ***OFFKEY KAZOO

“I want to get things sorted out with Lance. Like, properly.” I complained, finding myself back in Shiro's room. 

 

“Aren't you two already sorted out? I thought you were dating.” He hummed, not really giving me his full attention. 

 

“No, no, we're not dating. But that's the problem. We're already doing everything that dating people do.” I clarified, running a hand through my already-untamed hair. 

 

“You could just talk to him about it directly.” Shiro suggested, always the voice of reason. 

 

“You know I can't do that.” I grumbled, and he quirked an eyebrow up, looking over at me. 

 

“Really, can't you? I know you're insistent on being Mr. Miscommunication all the time, but if you're serious about him, you're going to need to talk about these things.” He said, very logically. And I knew he was right. Shiro is almost  _ always  _ right. But in cases like these, he's never  _ practical _ . 

 

What am I even going to say? Hey, Lance, are we boyfriends or just friends who kiss and stuff? What kind of question is that, anyways? I groaned, collapsing to his floor and sitting cross-legged, leaning wearily against the wall. 

 

“I know, Shiro. I'm just...I'm not good at these things. You know that.” 

 

“Then it's a good thing you've got this opportunity to practice.” He responded, crouching down next to me and ruffling my hair.

 

I pushed him away, ears red. “Don't ruffle my hair! I'm not a little kid anymore!” I objected, but there was laughter in my voice, and he joined me with his own soon enough. 

 

“Sure thing. You might want to leave now if you want to catch Lance tonight.” He advised. 

 

I sighed, loud enough for him to obviously hear, and slumped. 

 

“I'll talk to him tomorrow.” Upon seeing the look he gave me, I tacked on, “Don’t worry. I mean it. You can whoop my ass tomorrow if I don't. Pinky promise.” 

 

As stoic as they both generally were, pinky promises were a necessity for people you've known since childhood. 

 

“Now get out of my room.” Shiro helped me to stand, and I stumbled on stiff, sleepy legs out his automatic door. 

 

“Fine, fine. Don't be  _ rude _ , Shiro.” I complained, letting him shove me lightly out of his room. 

 

“You know I can't do that.” He joked, as the door slid shut behind me. 

 

I sighed, tipping my neck back and groaning quietly towards the ceiling. Communication had never been a strong point of mine. I didn't even want anything new, just an official label on it. The go-ahead to call him my boyfriend. 

 

Just that thought had my ears and cheeks turning red, like the hopelessly in-love loser I am. 

Tomorrow morning, I'd ask him. That's what I'd do. For the pilot of the fastest Lion, I really was drawing things out, wasn't I? 

* * *

 

Waking up the next morning was like being punched in the face with the fist of dread. Maybe not that dramatic, but still, I really did not want to talk to Lance. I knew I was going to do it anyways, though. 

I had the high ground, knowing that Lance always slept in as late as he could get away with. It gave me time to stand outside his door and pace, and potentially manage to catch him while he's still half-asleep. 

_ Pace, pace, pace.  _

Should I open the door? 

_ Pace, pace.  _

I knocked, and upon hearing a seemingly welcoming grunt from inside, I threw myself at the door before I could convince myself not to. It slid open as I stumbled past it. No going back now. 

“Lance! Be my boyfriend.” I said, blinking at the sight of Lance, who was oozing out of bed like a slug coming out of a coma. It was common knowledge that Lance _ really  _ didn't like getting up. 

At my outburst, however, he scrambled to his feet, completely at attention. 

“Be your what now?” He asked, voice squeaking with surprise and residual sleepiness. 

My impulse control decided to kick in just then. “Uh, nothing. Nevermind, I-” I started, but the grin sprouting on Lance's face told me that my evade had failed. 

“Your boyfriend. You…” He gestured towards me vaguely. “Want me…” he pointed to himself, “to be your boyfriend?” There was almost childlike glee in his eyes. The same kind of look a dog gives you when you hold up a meatball. Pure, unadulterated excitement. 

I bit my lip, face red and unable to make proper eye contact. 

“Yeah.” I confirmed, voice sounding much more casual than I was feeling. “I do.” 

Lance practically squealed like a little girl, leaping forward and pulling me into the tightest embrace I'd ever experienced. 

“Okay, but only if  _ you  _ agree to be mine.” He murmured, and I nuzzled my face further into his neck. 

“It's a deal.” I said, and we stood like that for a moment in silence. 

He pulled apart, and when we made eye contact I realized he was crying. 

“You're…” I brushed his damp cheek with my thumb, wiping away a stray tears. 

“It's 'cause I love you so much, don't worry about it.” He smiled toothily, and I couldn't help but return it.

 

“Love you too, space ranger partner.”

 

 

~~_ “What the fuck does that mean.” _ ~~

~~_ “I don't know, it just slipped out.” _ ~~

~~_ “Idiot.” _ ~~

~~_ “Hush.” _ ~~

~~_ “Space ranger partner.” _ ~~

~~_ “I said hush, you're going to ruin the moment!” _ ~~

~~_ “Aww, rude." _ ~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic has been such a ride, Honestly. Thank you all so much for reading, and the support I've gotten for this is quite frankly ridiculous? I'm so glad you all came through for me and helped this happen. Enjoy your happy end? 
> 
> Footnote: I almost put a plot in here and then decided not to so ps they whooped that robeast ass after this thanks for coming to my ted talk

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah. Whoops. Thanks for reading tho, please please leave kudos or even better, comments. I'm desperate. The next chapter should roll in a couple days from now.


End file.
